Winds of Change
by Erodairis Jareth
Summary: After taking residence on Cid Highwind's ship, Marii notices that her friend is paying a lot of attention to the man she saved a few days ago, named Vincent Valentine. The devious girl slowly begins to push the two together. Rated M for language later on
1. Prolouge

First time posting posting here.  
Be kind plz...

"Talking"  
_Thinking_

Marii, Kayru, Noel and Ryo (the last three are introduced next chapter) Are the only three characters I own.  
All others are Copyright SquareEnix_  
_

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Marii sighed deeply, staring out at the quiet night through the window in front of her. The cool breeze blowing through the window played lightly with her short brown hair, tickling the small blue loop that hung from each ear; even if this town was built in the middle of the desert, it still got cold at night. The girl's slender frame rattled with a shiver, her short sleeved black shirt failed to hold in much heat. She quickly closed her window, locking it securely. Nothing ever happened in Aiera, but it couldn't hurt to be safe. Her half-awake mind took a few seconds to respond to the harsh whistling from the first floor. After registering it was a tea kettle, the girl drug herself downstairs and into the kitchen, turning off the burner on the stove, and pouring water from the hot kettle into the waiting cup. 

After emptying the unused water into the sink, Marii picked up the cup and took a slow sip of tea. The cup felt lukewarm to her hands, while the hot liquid almost burned her tongue. She sighed softly again; after her fiancé walked out on her two weeks ago, taking almost half of their gil with him, she'd felt depressed. Other than her training, there was nothing for her to do to keep her mind off of him.

"There he is! Get him!!" a man's voice barked from her front yard.

"...?" she looked towards the hallway that led to the front door. A loud rattle of multiple gunshots and unrecognizable yelling followed, causing the girl the yelp in surprise. Dropping her cup thoughtlessly, she scrambled to the wall; quickly smacking the light-switch down and turning off the lights in the kitchen. When no light came from her house she hoped that whoever was out there would assume it abandoned and leave. Her slightly torn baggy jeans protected her legs from the almost boiling water that splashed forth from her cup when it shattered. Hugging her knees to her chest, she waited under the light-switch for the gunshots to stop, pressing the side of her face against the wall. Marii heard the sound of one of her front windows shattering, then another; the sound of shattering glass, as well as increased volume of the gunshots outside, caused the girl to flinch and burry her face into her knees

After many minutes the gunshots and fierce yelling slowly died away,

"...?" Marii slowly raised her head from her knees, looking around the dark kitchen. _Is it...over...?_ she wondered, poking her head around the nearby doorframe and looking down the hallway towards the front door. The window just to the left of the door was shattered, the glass on the floor sparkling in the pale moonlight; from her current viewpoint she couldn't see what other window had suffered a gunshot. She couldn't hear anyone, nor could she see any movement outside. _The shootout is probably over..._she decided, pulling her head back behind the wall.

Warily, Marii rose to her feet, hand always resting on the doorframe. She poked her head nervously around the wall again, to find that nothing had changed from when she had looked before. Cursing her curiosity mentally, the girl began to slowly walk towards the door. A final gunshot that rang from the front yard caused her to drop to her stomach on the floor, covering her head with both hands. The girl felt her body shaking like a leaf while she listened to the echo of the gunshot slowly die away. When deathly silence enveloped her entire house again, Marii slowly pushed herself up to her feet, and walked as silently as she could to the door. Her hand wrapped firmly around the doorknob, and she swallowed the large knot that had taken residence in her throat.

The tumbler clicked almost silently as the knob turned. Marii leaned her face close to the door as she pulled it open barely a crack. From her viewpoint, she could see the left side of her small front yard, as well as the edge of the walkway to her front door. She couldn't see anyone there,

"..." she opened the door a little farther. "Ah-!" The girl froze, the door barely open six inches. A figure stood on the pathway to her door, standing barely seven yards from her house. The person was tall, the position of the moon causing the entire front of their body to be shadowed over, masking their features. However, the moons light was enough to illuminate the long red cape that hung from their shoulders, the ends tattered and ripped; the pale silver light glowed slightly on their black hair, and twinkled playfully on a gauntlet that covered their left hand and their metal boots.

"..." their head rose slightly, noticing her.

"!" her body reacted on its own, pulling her slightly farther behind the door where it was safer. The wind that blew the figures cape and long raven hair was the only thing that caused movement in the long minutes that the two stared at one another. "...hm..." the girl noted that the figure wasn't moving. Perhaps they died standing up...?

Building up what little courage she had left, Marii forced herself to take a slight step from behind the door,

"..." the figure still didn't move. At the least they probably didn't intend to kill her...if they were still alive...

"...huh..." she muttered under her breath, her mind racing to try and figure out what she should do now. A groan issued from the figure, causing Marii to jump slightly. She watched with widened eyes as drug their foot forward in a slight step, another groan escaping them. At the least, she could tell it was a man. He extended a hand forward, as if he was asking for her help,

"...h-...hel...p..." he croaked softly; from her place in the door the girl barely heard him,

"Wh-?" Marii took a step outside quickly. "Wh-what...?" He fell to his knees, wobbling in that position for a split second, before collapsing face down onto the ground. His long raven black hair fluttered lightly down after him, spreading out over his back, "H-hey!" the girl yelped, worried that he really did die.

After taking a few steps from her house, Marii became more aware of the evidence of the shootout. The ground had a healthy amount of bullet holes scattered about, and a few dark holes decorated the front of her house. Apart from the window near the door, the window to the 'storage' room on the second floor was broken. Even though the light was dim, the girl could tell the right leg of his black pants and part of the cape over his left shoulder were saturated in blood. The girl kneeled next to the man, nervously resting a hand on the back of his shoulder. She shook him tentatively, almost worried that she might actually wake him up,

"H-hey," she asked softly, "Can you hear me...? Are you still alive...?" his eyes were closed, a dark red headband tied around his forehead kept his black hair from his face. She noted anxiously that the complexion of his face was pale. _It's the moon light, it's the moon light, it's the moon light..._ she assured herself mentally. "Come one, wake up," she urged gently, her shaking of his shoulder becoming a little less tentative, "Wake up...!"

"..." he made no noise. _Oh man, oh man..._ she thought worriedly, biting her lower lip. After finding his right hand, she pressed her fingers to his sleeve-covered wrist to try and find a pulse. In an instant his hand moved, almost to quickly to see, and clamped firmly over hers in an iron hard grip,

"Yaa-!" a yelp escaped her lips, body rattling uncontrollably. She looked to his face, now worried that she woke him and he would kill her.

His eyes were still closed.

"H-...Huh...?" she mumbled nervously, looking from his face to his hand. She pulled her hand from his easily, and his hand fell back to the ground. "O-oh," Marii sighed shakily, putting a hand over her heart, "J-just a reflex..." _But that means that he's alive...I...I guess I'd better help him before he really dies._ she decided.

After some work, the girl managed to pull one of his arms over her shoulders, putting her other arm around his waist. Marii counted to three mentally, before pushing herself to her feet. The unconscious man's unexpected weight almost made her loose her balance and drop him. She gritted her teeth, pulling down a little more on the arm around her shoulders and shifting the arm around his waist slightly, before trudging back towards the house. Once she covered the seven yards to her door, and managing to get inside, she was out of breath. However, she forced herself to keep moving, _Heavy...!_ she groaned mentally, while dragging the unconscious man up the stairs.

The top of the stairs being reached after many long minutes, Marii took him to the room that had belonged to her fiancé at one time. There wasn't anything in there except for a bed and a pillow with a sheet thrown over them, and a small chair. After much moving, negotiating of positions, and time, the girl had succeeded in setting him down on the bed. She sighed, glad that one job was done. Now she had to take care of his leg and shoulder...easier said than done... An idea forming in her mind, she moved towards the door, only to have her head jerked back abruptly

"Yipe!" a yelp escaped her lips when a section of her short hair threatened to be pulled from her head. Marii looked back to see that some of her hair had gotten tangled in the man's gauntlet-covered fingers. "..." she sighed, grateful he wasn't really awake. Slowly and steadily, she undid his fingers from her hair, setting his hand back down on the bed. The girl quickly jogged from the room, straightening out her hair as she walked into the bathroom. She opened the cabinet behind her mirror, and pulled out some cotton balls as well as the rolls of bandages she would usually wrap around her hands when she did her self-defense training. The girl frowned slightly, not happy that these bandages and cotton balls were all she had that could be used as medicine. She shrugged it off, and quickly returned to her room. Marii carefully pulled off his oddly pointy shoes, before rolling up his right pant-leg. The girl grimaced seeing the three bullet wounds in his lower leg.

Marii's hands shook nervously as she gingerly pressed cotton to each bullet hole. After which, she wrapped his lower leg in bandages, pulling the bandages snug before tying it off. She rolled his blood-soaked pant leg back down, deciding to wait until he was awake before trying to do something to clean away the blood. The girl did her best to not look at her hands which now had spots of his blood on them.

Next came his shoulder wound. The girl was extremely cautious as she unbuckled the small fasteners that held together the high collar of his red cape; she opened his cape slowly, not sure of where exactly he was injured. However that soon became evident when Marii located a deep graze-wound on his neck which was bleeding heavily. _This is going to be tougher than I thought..._ she sighed mentally. The girl slid her hand under his head, lifting his head while trying not to worsen the wound on his neck. She quickly pulled his cape out from under him, tossing it on the floor haphazardly. Once his cape was out of the way, she set his head back down on the pillow; she did notice though that his black hair felt exceptionally soft against her hand, although she didn't allow her hand to linger. Marii pressed a few cotton balls against the wound on his neck, before wrapping his neck in the rest of the bandages.

After Marii's task was done, she sighed gratefully, and picked up his cape. She folded it in half, and draped it over the end of the bed. While washing the blood from her hands in the bathroom sink, she glanced at the small digital clock that sat above the mirror. The glowing green numbers flashed '1:30 AM'. The girl drug her suddenly heavy feet back to the room where the man was currently resting, closing the door after she entered the room. She pulled the chair closer to the bed, before plopping down in the chair. The girl sunk down in the chair, closing her eyes wearily,

"When you wake up," she muttered to the unconscious man, "You'd better... at least...tell me who you are..." she quickly drifted off to sleep, head falling slightly to the right.

To be Continued...

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Hope you liked. The next chapter will be up soon, and yes, Cid is introduced in that chapter. 


	2. 1 Cid Highwind the Meal Moocher?

FFVII and its Characters Not Mine.  
Enjoy

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"..." blood-red eyes fluttered open slowly. It took their owner a few seconds before he realized he was lying in bed in a strange room, his cape missing. "...!" he began to raise his head, but a sharp pain in the left side of his neck stopped him. The raven-haired man gingerly touched the throbbing area with his fingertips, finding that his neck was wrapped in bandages. It took him a few minutes before he remembered what had happened the night before...when he was ambushed by the 'Dark Moon' agents. The man seriously doubted the skills of the people who attacked him, the only reason he was injured was because he was taken off guard. He wondered how the Dark Moon agents were able to follow him. Aiera was an extremely out of the way town; unless they lived here, people would usually only stop by on there way to Yassune. 

"..." he could sense there was someone else in the room with him, very nearby as well.

"...!" moving his neck as little as possible, he looked to the side. A girl was sitting in the chair next to the bed he was currently occupying. Her chin-length, razor cut brown hair hid her slightly-leaned-forward face. Despite the jeans she wore, her black tee shirt gave away her thin frame of a figure. "...hm..." his low voice came barely audible. He took careful note of how her knuckles held faint bruises, as if from fighting or punching...And the engagement ring on her left ring finger. _Married...Hmm..._ he thought, finding this fact oddly...interesting. He looked back up to her still-hidden face, still unable to find out why this fact interested him so much, _At such a young age..._

"...Mm..." she began to wake her head rocking back and forth slightly. The raven-haired man rested his head back on his pillow, waiting patiently.

Marii reluctantly allowed herself to be drug back to consciousness. She raised her head, leaning her head back to stretch her stiff neck. A tingle shook her spine when the girl got the faint feeling of eyes on her. She looked to her side only to find her pale grey eyes met blood red ones,

"Oh...!" she gasped softly, not as surprised as she should have been considering the fact that she was still half asleep, "You're awake...Good, I was worried you might have died..."

"..." the man blinked once in response. She noted how his raven-black hair and blood red eyes contrasted his porcelain-doll-pale complexion.

"...You got hurt really badly last night," she explained at length, "Your leg especially." she nodded towards the bottom of his right pant leg. Up to his knee was stained slightly darker than the rest of his pants,

"..." he looked down to where she nodded, then closed his eyes and sighed softly. He understood what she had said; he could probably feel the bandages that she had wrapped around his leg last night.

"...What's..." Marii began, finding that his persistent silence almost unnerved her. He looked back to her, "What's your name...?"

"..." he blinked once again, before saying, "Vincent...Vincent Valentine." his voice was low and soft when he actually spoke.

"Vincent..." she mumbled thoughtfully under breath, the name almost clicking in the back of her head...She thought she heard it before, but couldn't place it. "I'm Marii Shuco."

"...hm..." he mumbled, "...Then I can only guess..." he started, "That the house the 'Dark Moon' Agents attacked me in front of...was yours."

"Y-yes." she agreed, "It must've been around midnight or something... I just heard yelling from outside then a lot of gunshots."

"Hm..." Vincent agreed softly, closing his eyes. "...I suppose, then, I must..."

"Huh?"

"..." he sighed softly. His voice came a hint softer, a touch of reluctance in his words, when he told her, "...Thank you."

"..." Marii smiled kindly, at his reluctant apology "Heh. Don't worry." she stood, "Wait here, I'm going to go get a Hi-potion from in town... Don't get up ok?"

"..." he blinked, then nodding his head once.

The girl closed the door to her house behind her, taking the 1,000 gil necessary to purchase a hi-potion...from the normal shops, that is. She didn't plan on going to the normal shops until after she visited her friend. He was a bit of a strange one, alright. He was extremely, _extremely_, interested in all sorts of airships. He had a habit of always smoking, which annoyed the girl to no end because the noxious smoke from his cigarette usually made her cough.

Marii sighed quietly as she strolled through town to the large 'hanger' that her friend and his companions had built a short distance outside of town. When she reached the building, she knew better than to try knocking. Nobody would hear her; or if they did they probably wouldn't answer, assuming that it was a townsperson coming to complain about the noise. The girl raised one leg, and kicked squarely in the center of the door. The metal door swung open, banging loudly against the wall that stopped it.

"Cid!" Marii called, putting her hands in her pockets and walking inside. This room was over four stories tall, with the very top of the wall lined with windows; the walls of the building were abnormally thick, but that still didn't prevent the noises of loud construction from escaping. Despite the buildings immense size, this particular room didn't have all that much moving space. One side was stacked full of crates in which were packed various supplies for when the ship actually took off; judging by the square shaped dust lines crossing empty ground, at least a few crates had already been loaded. At the other end of the room was a desk, the top of which was covered in large stacks of papers,

"..." the room remained silent, no one returning the girls call,

"Cid! Noel! Kayru! Ryo! Hey, is anyone here!?" she called.

"Wark, wark!!" the quiet wark of a baby chocobo chirped through the silence. The warking was coming from the crates. Feeling curious as to what Cid may have packed away, the girl walked towards the crates. She maneuvered her way to the back, finding the crate that the wark was coming from to be in the very, _very_ back. The girl squeezed her fingers between the top of the crate and the rim, before pulling up. Nails ripped from the boards, and wood cracked slightly as the lid opened.

"??" she peered into the box curiously,

A baby chocobo, its feathers a bleached blonde color, burst forth from the open box. The tiny bird flapped its wings hard to stay airborne, before diving gratefully into Marii's arms. Around the birds neck was a sky blue collar, the tag on which said 'Aldrick'. The girl, having a weakness for cute things, cradled the baby chocobo in her arms, petting the top of his head.

"You're so cute...!" the girl told little 'Aldrick', walking back to the clear space in front of the crates. He continued to wark happily in her arms.

"...Hello, Marii." Kayru greeted, walking into the main room from the door that lead into the hanger, "Ah, I see you've found Aldrick. Good. Cid's been looking for him."

"This is Cid's chocobo...?" the girl asked. The man confirmed the statement with a nod,

"...Why is it you have come?" Kayru was always quiet and reserved, in a way he was like Vincent...although he talked a _little_ more. Kayru was around Cid's age, being fairly close to his height as well. His dark blue hair, reaching a little lower than his shoulders, was always tied back in a loose ponytail. The man's right grey eye, and left green eye, were both normally hidden behind his thin glasses. His collared light blue long sleeved-shirt and tan pants were covered slightly by his long white coat. The coat almost resembled that of a scientists white jacket.

Kayru was the main pilot of Cid's ship, keeping a map tracking where they traveled, and kept track of needed supplies and their money.

Noel, the only girl on the team, was in charge of taking the supply list from Kayru and restocking supplies, as well as cleaning and taking care of the ship and any injuries the crew may have recieved.

Ryo was one of the main mechanics; and a good description for him was a... well, a grease-monkey. Who also loved making, and using, explosives.

"Well..." Marii responded, gingerly poking the Gil in her pocket. She felt a heavy weight in her gut; 1,000 gil was an especially steep amount for her to pay right now, "...Where's Cid?"

"...He is working with Noel and Ryo." the blue haired man responded, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger. "Come, I will show you."

Marii followed Kayru through the door as he turned and returned to the hanger. As she followed him, she thought about what Ryo told her of the man. He said that Kayru lost his right eye a few years ago in an accident, and his real eye was replaced with a mechanical one. It could the measure distance and the depth of anything in a split second, even be used as a targeting mechanism; even do any computations, no madder how complicated they were, in a split second. However no one was able to prove it true... but they couldn't really prove it _false_ either...

After getting through the door, the two stood huge hanger that the door led to was a fair-sized airship. Loud banging rose above the sound of whirling drills and creaking metal. Noel's short black-with-a-dyed-hot-pink-streak hair was visible on top of one of the two huge downward-facing fans that jutted from either side of the airship; the fan she was on happened to be the location where the banging was coming from. The fans were what would allow the ship to hover over sand or water; a large propeller-shaped engine in the back would allow the ship to move forward or backward.

"Noel." Kayru called.

"Huh...?" her sky blue eyes looked down at them from her perch, the banging coming to a halt. Her navy short sleeved shirt was stained with black oil splotches arms; the long black sleeves sewn to the short sleeves of tee shirt masked any more oil stains. The large pockets on her baggy navy pants were filled with her favorite tools: a Hammer, Nails, Bolts and a Crescent Wrench. "Oh. Hey, Marii." she greeted kindly, giving her a friendly smile and leaning her hammer against her shoulder like it was a sword.

"Noel, where is Cid?" Kayru asked,

"Hold on, lemme get him." Noel volunteered. After jumping to the floor of the hanger, she ran up a small ramp and into the ship; Marii and Kayru heard her voice yell loudly, "Cid!! Get Out Here!!" there was even more loud banging as she hit her hammer against the wall of the ship. Aldrick warked from Marii's arms, also trying to call him.

"Ah!" a loud clang echoed through the hanger, the whirring of drills lessened slightly in volume. Noel reappeared from the hatch, a pleased look on her face,

"He's comin'." she told them simply, then went to the task of scaling the side of the fan so she could continue her work.

A moment later, the captain of the airship, Cid Highwind, walked down the ramp, rubbing the top of his head. Dark green goggles sat atop his head, matting down some of his short spiked blonde hair. Grease was smudged all over is face around his sky blue eyes; also smeared over his white shirt. The orange sash around his waist was hardly orange any more from grime, and his blue jeans were half black with oil splotches. A cigarette that was hardly more than a small stub hung from the corner of his mouth,

"Who the hell is-? Huh?" he noticed the girl standing next to Kayru,

"Hi, Cid." Marii greeted, waving to him from her place on the hanger floor,

"Marii!" he exclaimed fondly, jumping off the side of the ramp, "Well ain't you a sight for sore eyes, eh? Ah-ha! And you found my little Aldrick too." The baby chocobo warked, jumping from the girls arms and running to Cid. He put the chocobo on his shoulder as he walked over to the two,

"Here is a list of needed supplies for Noel." Kayru told him, giving him a paper he had pulled from his pocket,

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Cid grumbled snatching the paper from his hand, rolling it up, and shoving it in between his sash and his shirt, "Get back to work. Th' fans will be ready to test as soon as Noel's done"

"..." Kayru left and entered the airship,

"So, what can I do ya for, Marii?" Cit asked, putting his hands on his hips like he usually did,

"Can I get a Hi-potion, Cid?" she asked, "I've got--"

"Just gimme 400 and we'll call it even." he responded, scratching the stubble on his chin before spitting out his cigarette, unable to get any more nicotine from the small stub. "I like givin' Kayru a hard time when it comes to keepin' the budget anyway." the girl laughed lightly, fishing the required 400 gil from her pocket,

"He's gonna kill you one day if you keep doing that." she informed the captain, handing him the gil.

"Psh." he responded, taking the money and stuffing it into his pocket haphazardly, "Okay then-" he stopped, glaring at her hand, "Hey...What'd I tell you about wearin' the ring from that no-good Son of a--"

"I forgot." Marii told him concisely, pulling the ring from her finger. As she put the ring in her pocket, she noticed how her finger felt...strangely empty without it.

"Ya, ya, ya..." he muttered, walking back towards the door. Aldrick warked three times, almost mimicking Cid's words. "C'mon, this way." Marii followed him quickly.

Marii took a seat on the far desk as Cid rummaged through a crate, the baby chocobo snuggled down in her lap contentedly. The teen explained her situation as Cid was practically swallowed in the crate,

"So...his name is Vincent, eh?" the airship captain asked, head popping up from the box. A ball off paper that had rested on his head fell and landed just outside the box, "And that guy was in some big shootout with some uh...whaddidya say?"  
"He called them 'Dark Moon' agents." Marii informed him, looking up at the windows and out at the clear blue sky. She began to hope that Vincent had stayed in bed so he didn't worsen his injuries.

"Well, 'bout time something interesting happened in this town. It's too quiet if you as me."

"Uh-huh..." Marii agreed, rolling her eyes.

"...where the fuck is it?" Cid cursed under his breath, delving back into the box, "Dammit! I know Kayru packed 'em in here! Dammit!!" the door to the hanger opened once again, and said Kayru walked out. Cid hadn't noticed and continued digging in the box, the blue haired man approached the girl. A curved bottle containing lime green liquid rested in his hand, which he offered to her.

"I believe this is what he is looking for." the man told her in a monotone.

"Thanks, Kayru." the girl agreed, taking the bottle. Aldrick scampered from her lap, jumping to the edge of the crate. He stuck his head down into the crate, causing his feathered tale to stick straight up in the air,

"Wark, wark!!" he warked a few times, before jumping, cannonball style, into the box.

"Say what?!" Cid demanded, resurfacing in an instant. Aldrick sat contentedly on his head, cuddled into a small ball. From the man's reaction, it almost sounded as though he had understood what Aldrick told him. "Kayru-!"

"I told you, Cid." the man responded, adjusting his glasses slightly, "I store all forms of medical supplies in the hidden compartment next to the Pilots Chair."

Cid cursed and muttered under his breath, climbing out of the crate and dusting off his shirt. He stuck a cigarette in his mouth, fishing a lighter from his sash and giving life to the stick of nicotine. The man took a draw on the cigarette, red embers eating away at the white paper and leaving it grey and black ash in its wake; he blew out a puff of smoke in a satisfied sigh. Kayru walked over to him,

"...?" the blue haired man swiped the cigarette from the captain's mouth, dropping on the ground and grinding it into the floor, "Goddamnit-!" Cid began,

"Smoking is bad for your lungs." Kayru responded, folding his arms over his chest.

"Get the Fuck Back'ta Work!" he yelled, obviously mad at Kayru for taking away one of his precious supplies of nicotine. The blue haired man shrugged, then returned to the hanger.

"Hey- Marii," Cid barked as she began to leave.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking back at him over her shoulder. Cid began fishing through is sash again for another cigarette.

"I'm comin' over to your place tonight. I wanna see what kinda asshole it is that you've got stayin' with you."

"Sure you're not just coming for the food?" she teased,

"Hey!" he exclaimed defensively,

"Sorry, sorry...It's fine I guess." the girl sighed, tilting her head to one side as she shrugged, "Guess I'll have to go Grocery Shopping now..." she sighed again, knowing that Cid was coming over both to check on her and to get a free meal. _Again_. As the door to the building closed, she heard Cid begin yelling at his crew.

"Everyone Front and Center Right Now!!! Who the Fuck Packed Aldrick In One of the Crates!?!" Marii chuckled under her breath, knowing full well it was probably Cid who did it.

--------------------------------

Thirty minutes later, ring back on her finger, 500 Gil in her pocket, Marii walked back into her house.

"Vincent...?" she called, setting down the bags of groceries. She plucked the Hi-potion from the bag, and jogged upstairs. "Oi...Vincent, I'm back." she told him, opening the door. Vincent was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the window across the room. His right leg was bent up, his right wrist bent over his knee; his left hand was behind him on the bed to support him. The red cape already back around his shoulders, and spread out over the bed behind him. He turned his head back, hearing her come in,

"..." he nodded slightly in greeting. She walked around the bed to face him,

"Here." she said, handing him the Hi-potion. "Drink it. It'll heal your wounds faster."

"..." he took the Hi-potion, examining it briefly. He sent a glance up at her, then looked back to the bottle. The raven-haired man decided mentally that Marii didn't seem like the kind of person who would trick someone like this; or try to save someone just to kill them with poison. He flicked off the top before drinking the potion slowly. Sparkles flashed around his neck and injured leg briefly; after he pulled the empty bottle from his lips it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a somewhat puzzled expression on Vincent's face. After the sparkles vanished and the small puff of smoke had dissipated, he looked at his leg quizzically. The raven-haired man stood up warily, putting experimental weight on his leg,

"How do you feel?" she asked,

"...It dosn't hurt at all." he responded.

"Heh. Good." the girl agreed, "Now come downstairs. I'll cook breakfast." Vincent tilted his head to one side ever so slightly, watching her walk out of the room. Then he followed her downstairs; she picked up two of the four grocery bags easily. As she moved to pick up the other two, Vincent did it for her.

"..." she knew that he was just trying to be polite.

"...Thanks." the girl told him, "Come on." he followed her into the kitchen, and set the grocery bags down on the counter with the others. Marii started to make coffee, "How do you take it?" Vincent took his time to examine the kitchen. A fair-sized circular table with three chairs sat in the middle of the floor, a steel-grey refrigerator against the far wall. While the wall near him had afew cupboards sat beneath a dark tan countertop. At one end of the countertop there was a stove, then a sink, then a coffee maker which the girl was currently using; the off-white colored wall above the counter held afew cabinets.

"...?" he sent a slightly confused glance towards her,

"Your coffee." she explained, starting the percolator, "How do you take it? Black?"

"...Sure." he agreed at length.

As the girl occupied herself with cooking breakfast Vincent sat at the table, fingers laced together, thinking. He was grateful she didn't ask him why he was attacked or what he was doing way out here in the middle of nowhere; however he knew full well that she still _may_ ask at some point. The girl set a cup filled with dark liquid in front of him,

"Here. Drink up." she told him, before returning to her cooking at the stove.

"..." the dark liquid didn't smell...all too pleasant. He picked up the cup, taking an experimental sip... The drink was bitter, the strange flavor tasted unpleasant on his tongue; the liquid felt hot on his throat as he swallowed. He didn't especially like this drink.

"Don't like it, do you?" Marii asked, laughing lightly as she looked at him over her shoulder, "That's ok. It took me a while to get used to it too. If you want, just empty it out in the sink." she heard Vincent grunt softly in thanks as he stood, and walked to the sink; he poured the still-steaming liquid down the drain.

As he took his seat, the girl delivered the plates of eggs and sausage to the table,

"Enjoy." she said, putting a knife and fork next to his plate. Then she returned to the stove and began to put food on her plate,

"..." Vincent muttered a small 'thank you' as he slowly began eating. The girl sat down across from him, and began eating as well. They spent most of the meal in silence, when the girl decided that he should know that a visitor was coming,

"Vincent," she asked. He raised his eyes, "...One of my friends is coming over for dinner tonight, he wanted to meet you. His name's Cid Highwind."

"..." knowing he didn't have much say, she expected his small nod.

---------------------------------

Vincent sat quietly on the couch in the living room. He was trying to gather the thoughts of what he was going to do now. His right hand fell and brushed against his thigh; upon the girls request he left his gun up in the room he was borrowing. His leg felt...odd, without it. Marii was busying herself cooking a thick beef and vegetable stew, as well as red curry, in the kitchen. The doorbell rang,

"..." he turned his head back as he stood,

"I'll get it..." Marii announced, walking out of the kitchen. She opened the door, "Hey Cid--...Cid...?" she stuck her head out of the door, seeing nobody waiting on the other side. Vincent walked from his place in front of the couch, suspicious of the empty porch in front of the door. "Cid? Are you out--" just before she stepped outside a loud yell erupted from above her,

"Surrrrprrriiisssseeee, Maaarriiiiiiii!!!" the blonde airship captain swung from his hiding place above the door, swinging in as if he was launching a surprise attack. The raven-haired mans eyes widened as he began to move towards the 'attacker'. However he stopped, and the blonde mans yell was cut short, when the girl's fist collided with his gut, one of her legs darted up in a high kick, and hitting him in the balls. She had probably done so out of reflex. "Ah--!" his voice cracked painfully, rising in frequency drastically. He fell to his face on the ground, body curled up into a small ball, whimpering quietly.

"..." Vincent raised an eyebrow at the man, relaxing his guard. ...Is this...? he wondered. Was this the man that wanted to meet him...?

"Cid!!!" Marii screamed suddenly, causing Vincent to jerk his eyes from the airship captain. The girl jumped up and down repetitively on his back, "How- Many- Times- Do- I- Have- To- Tell- You- Not- To- Do- That?!" she landed on his back over and over again as she said each word. The raven-haired mans eyes followed the girl up when she jumped then all the way back down to Cid when she landed on his back, _...Hm..._ one of his eyebrows raised slightly as he continued to watch the display.

"Ow-ow-ow-!! That isn't good for my back-!" the man groaned, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, ok-!? Cut it out, dammit!" the girl let out an aggravated sigh as she stepped off him, folding her arms in an unimpressed way. Dusty brown shoe marks decorated the back of Cid's white shirt.

"Jeeze Cid..." she groaned, putting her hands on her hips. The man stood up, back cracking painfully as he did so,

"Sure have a hell of a way of greeting a friend..." Cid informed her, voice still higher than normal, as he rubbed his back.

"Same goes for you!" she exclaimed, before groaning again, "...Never mind. Vincent, this is Cid. Cid, Vincent." The blonde looked to the raven-haired man, inspecting him seriously. Vincent noted that he fit the stereotype of people with blonde hair having blue eyes-- his being as blue as a clear sky.

"Huh...So You're Vincent, eh...?" the raven-haired man inclined his head slightly in greeting,

"Ah-- I gotta get back in the kitchen. Don't want dinner burning." Marii told them quickly, jogging back in the room, "You guys just...talk or something for a while. I'll call you in when dinners done."

"Sure, sure." Cid agreed, waving one hand carelessly,

"..." the girl was becoming accustomed to Vincent's lack-of-response either meaning a 'sure' or a 'yes'.

After Marii was gone, Cid turned seriously to Vincent,

"Now you listen." he ordered, seriously. The raven-haired man looked back to him, "Th' last guy Marii helped out she fell in love with...Then that lousy son of a bitch broke her heart and just walked out on her. And now I got a hell of a debt to pay him."

"..." _I see...So that's an engagement ring..._ Vincent commented mentally. Now learning of her past, he almost felt a small shred of sympathy for the girl.

"Marii's like a Little Sister to me," the airship captain added, "So I'm keepin my eye on you." he jabbed Vincent in the chest with his forefinger, "You hurt her, ya gotta deal with me. Got it?"

"..." Vincent's narrowed ever-so-slightly, swatting Cid's hand from his chest. After seeing how Marii delt with the captain for surprising her earlier, the raven-haired man didn't find the threat all that...threatening.

From where she was finishing her curry spice, Marii sighed mentally hearing Cid. She sighed, the girl appreciated that he was trying to protect her...But this was going a _little_ too far. Her custom-made curry finished cooking,

"Cid, Vincent," she called, setting the bowl of stew on the tale, and going back for her curry, "Come on in, guys." the two men entered the kitchen in silence, Cid went straight into one of the cupboards.

"..." he was muttering how he needed a cigarette under his breath as he fished a small bowl from inside; he probably intended to use it like an ashtray. Marii sighed, deciding it was going to be a 'colorful' evening,

"Hey, Vincent." the girl asked.

"..." the black-haired man looked to her,

"Can you get the pot of rice for me?"

"..." he nodded once, walking to the stove and retrieving the fair-sized pot from over one of the recently-turned-off burners. He set it on a pot holder on the table next to the pot of Curry seasoning.

The dinner went over with very little or no conversation. Most of it was on where he came from. Cid had gone through three of his cancer sticks and was now working on the fourth.

"..." Marii coughed, the bitter smoke seeping into her lungs. "Cid, c'mon. You're gonna die at an early age like that." she told him, swatting smoke from in front of her faced.

"Eh," Cid shrugged in an uncaring manner. "It helps keep me calm."

"..." Vincent released an inaudible grunt of doubt. However he, too, was becoming annoyed by the smoke that invaded his lungs with every breath.

"What did Kayru tell you?" she added,

"Phhhht." he spat, chuckling, "Kayru works for me. I don't haveta listen to him." Marii sighed in defeat, and allowed Cid to continue his unhealthy habit of smoking.

The dinner soon came to a conclusion, Cid having smoked five cigarettes over the course of the meal at least. Marii was just glad that he hadn't tried to start fighting with Vincent.

"Well...Guess you ain't so bad." Cid told him, leaning on the back to legs of his chair, "But I'm still keeping a close eye on you, got it?"

"..." Vincent said nothing, not really caring. When there was yelling from outside,

"Huh...?" Marii stood from her chair warily, "Who's...?"

"...!" the raven-haired man's eyes widened in realization, "Get down!" he pushed Cid towards the wall, before jumping from his chair and grabbing Marii's arm. He pulled her to the floor as guns began to fire and bullets rattled the house.

* * *

I got Aldrick from my friend Byne Zearse's KH stories. (For those who don't know) Aldrick falls in love with Cid Highwind.  
Byne's a friend of mine, and I've already got his permission to use Aldrick the Chcobo. 

Thanks Byne!


	3. 2 Attack and the First Flight

Ya, I'm not gonna bother with the disclaimer anymore. You all know they're not mine.

* * *

Bullets rattled the side of the house relentlessly as the many attackers continued to unload their guns on the house in an attempt to kill the three inside. Cid was crouched against the wall, right next to the door to the living room. Vincent was kneeling next to the wall across from him; Marii lying facedown next to him, covering the back of her head with her hands.

"Looks like they assume you're my ally..." Vincent murmured to the girl,

"Great..." she mumbled in response, sending him a disapproving glare for getting her involved in this.

"Ryo! Ryo!!" Cid yelled into the radio he pulled from his pocket, "Starblaze is leavin' tonight! We've also got a lot of unwanted company that needs taking care of!"  
"Yes sir!" Ryo's voice rang from the radio over the loud gunfire,

"You've gotta come into town, now! We're gonna need cover fire, and lots of it!" he added. Both he and the girl flinched when a bullet ricocheted off the floor of the kitchen; Vincent didn't even bat an eyelash,

"Bang or Big Boom!?" Ryo asked, excitement growing in his voice. The airship captain smirked widely,

"Go For Broke!!" he yelled into the radio. As the blonde turned off the radio, Marii faintly heard Ryo yelling and whooping excitedly. Cid quickly stowed it back in his pocket, "Marii! You got a secret way out of here, or something?"  
"What do I look like!?" the girl yelled back, "A Spy!?"

"Where's your broom closet?" he asked.

"...?" the girl tilted her head to one side slightly. Where in the world did _that_ question come from? "J-just outside the kitchen."

"Vin!" Vincent raised his head, giving the man an annoyed look for calling him by a nickname _again_, "You've got a weapon, don't you?"

"..." he nodded slightly,

"Where is it?"  
"...Upstairs." he responded.

"How long 'll it take you to get it?" Cid asked with a smirk. Vincent's eyes narrowed, understanding the airship captain's plan,

"...Two minutes. At most."

"Okay." Cid agreed, "Marii, come with me! We'll sneak out once Vin gets his gun! Vin, when you've got your gun, cover us!" both of them nodded in agreement. There wasn't much else they could do now but try any plan that they could.

Vincent and Marii crouched low as they ran across the kitchen to join their friend; before all three moved into the living room. Like a crimson blur, Vincent ran up the stairs to the room he had borrowed, while Cid threw open the closet door, snatching a mop from inside,

"Let's go!" he called, smirking.

"And do what!?" Marii demanded, forcing a Reality Check upon him, "Clean!?"

"..." Cid grumbled under his breath, glaring at her over his shoulder, "Shaddup!" he grabbed her arm, pulling towards a side window. Vincent ran down the stairs, gun in hand, and quickly followed the two across the room.

Covering his head and upper body with his arms, Cid propelled himself through the window; rolling on the ground quickly to dissipate the energy from the jump, and jumping to his feet. Vincent took aim, and began shooting what Dark Moon agents he could through the broken front windows. He still gave serious consideration to the thought that the Dark Moon organization was somewhat of a sub-organization of Deepground

"Go." he ordered Marii, firing again and hitting an agent square in the eye. He fell to the ground with a scream before dying.

"R-right." she agreed. The girl jumped out of the window, a long cut running up her arm when her skin came in contact with a sharp piece of glass that remained in the frame. She stumbled slightly after landing on the ground, covering the bleeding cut with her hand. Vincent shot a few more times, before jumping out after them.

A mechanized dog dashed around the corner of the house, snarling fiercely at Cid,

"Shaddup ya little son of a bitch!" Cid yelled, hitting the dog across the face with the head of the mop. He continued using the cleaning tool to beat the dog; using it as though it were a spear. Seeing that that Cid's efforts weren't producing much, Vincent used the last bullet in the clip and shot the dog in the heart. It fell to the ground, dead.

"We need to go." the raven-haired man ordered concisely, snapping a new clip of bullets into place in his three-barreled gun. The three took off through the side yard; Vincent lagging back slightly and shooting a few followers, before quickly chasing after Cid and Marii.

The girl wondered listlessly what she did to deserve any of this. She sighed, grateful that Cid and Vincent would protect her for the time being...hopefully. Said airship pilot continued effectively using his mop to take out any enemies in their path.

"Where in the hell are they--" he started. However, he stopped with Marii and Vincent when the street behind them was racked with a huge explosion, eradicating all their pursuers. All three flinched away slightly from the bright light.

"Yahooooo!!!!" Ryo's voice whooped. His short bleach-blonde hair and green-flame-tattoo covered arms were visible on a rooftop near the group. The grease monkey had two long straps of dynamite draped at opposite angels across his bare chest. The only form of actual clothing he was wearing being baggy black pants. Wind blew strongly, blowing the smoke away from the friends. Kayru appeared beside him, tossing Cid a spear. Cid caught it, tossing the mop away. The spears was taller than the man, however he wielded it as though he were an expert.

"Go," Kayru urged, his ponytail whipping out to the side in the wind that had begun to carry the smoke from the explosion over the town. "We'll cover you."

"Noel's getting Starblaze ready now!" Ryo agreed, "Go, go, go!!" Kayru's eyes narrowed, the fire that had ignited from the explosion glistening on his glasses. Three throwing knives seemingly appeared in his hand, which he quickly hurtled with deadly accuracy at three pursuers. With his almost inhuman accuracy, Marii really did wonder if his right eye was electronic... As Cid, Marii and Vincent began running again, Vincent watched Ryo curiously. The blonde ripped two dynamite sticks from the straps. After sucking in as much air as he could hold, he banged his front teeth together in the open air. Fire belched from his mouth, igniting the two fuses.

"Here's a present!" he called, hurling the explosives into the street. While running, Vincent couldn't help wondering...Just how did he do that...? Kayru and Ryo quickly chased after them by way of the rooftops. The explosions shook the ground, and two buildings crumbled.

"We're not tryin' to destroy the town, Dumbass!!" Cid screamed at him as they ran. Ryo rubbed the back of his head,

"Heh...Sorry, Cid!" he called.

---------------------------------------

After arriving at the hanger Dark Moon agents flooded in from both sides of the street,

"Damn..." Cid cursed, "Oh well...Guess we just gotta kick some ass." Kayru and Ryo descended from the rooftops to join their friends in battle. Marii was forced to fight as well, having to punch and kick whoever got near her.

"Gottcha-!" a hand clamped on her shoulder. That snapped her last stressing nerve,

"Aahhhhh!" she grabbed their arm, flipping them over her shoulder and right onto another whom was running towards her, "Get off!" Both Vincent and Cid stared at her, before the blonde smiled proudly,

"That's my Marii! Just like me!"  
"Stuff it, Cid!" she ordered. Vincent blinked once, not aware that Marii possessed such strength, "...What?" she asked, noticing his blank stare,

"..." he shook his head. A sudden explosion near the hanger almost knocked them to the ground,

"Dammit, Peter!!" Cid screeched, _...Peter...?_ Vincent wondered.

"That wasn't me!!" the grease-monkey whined. "And don't use my real name!" Because he was no longer able to use his explosives due to close quarters, 'Ryo' had drawn a katana that had been hidden behind his waist. "I haven't set off anything near here!" Vincent looked up into the bright searchlights of a helicopter over their heads; it must have fired its only missile, seeing how all it was doing now was putting a spotlight on the three. This situation was growing worse and worse by the minute. He grabbed Marii's shoulder, then Kayru's,

"Take her to the ship." the raven-haired man ordered,

"..." Kayru blinked at him; giving him a look that asked, 'Since when did I follow Your orders?'

"Do...what he said!" Cid ordered, holding off a sword with the body of the spear. "You and Ryo get Marii where it's safe! Hiyaa!" he brought the spearhead across their face, sending them to the ground. Kayru took hold of Marii's wrist,

"Ryo!" he barked, pulling the girl towards the hanger,

"Right Behind You!" he called, jumping leap-frog style over a Dark Moon agent who charged him, and giving chase.

As soon as the three disappeared inside of the hanger, Vincent loaded a full clip into his gun; which gave a satisfying click. Cid stuck a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it.

"Heh, you're not too bad a fighter." he commented as the two stood almost back-to-back.

"Hn." Vincent grunted in response, cocking the gun,

"Let's kick these asses and get outta here!" the blonde exclaimed, thrusting his spear into the air enthusiastically,

"...Didn't need to tell me." the raven-haired man responded, turning his head to the side slightly to look at Cid over his shoulder.

-----------------------------------

Kayru didn't release Marii's wrist as they ran through the hanger, Ryo on their heels. Marii heard Aldrick's frantic warking, and forced the blue-haired man to slow down enough to allow the little chocobo to jump into her hand; she hugged the chocobo to her gently as the three ran into the ship.

"I gottcha, Aldrick." she told him gently, "I gottcha..." the little chocobo whined, cuddling up to the girl anxiously. The three ran into the ship and straight to the bridge where Noel was waiting for them; only upon arriving at the bridge did Kayru finally release the girl's wrist. He ran to the seat right in the front of the room which sat in front of what appeared to be a truck steering wheel; next to the seat was a tall lever, probably used to control the height that the ship hovered from the ground. Said steering wheel was surrounded by many different screens, buttons and various other types of controls.

The girl noticed five buttons set up in an odd pattern right next to the steering wheel. In the middle a flashing blue button with the letter 'N' above it. Above that were two green buttons lying in a horizontal line. One said 'F' the other, 'FF'. Opposite of those were two red buttons that said 'R' or 'FR'. The teen began to wonder what those buttons were for...Directions?

Noel and Ryo took their place in seats on opposite sides of the room, ready for anything.

"Where're Cid and that other guy?" Noel asked as Kayru began to power up the ship,

"They're coming." the blue haired man responded, pushing his glasses back up his nose before he continued entering startup codes into the ship. "We need to get ready."

"Takin' off!" Ryo announced as a rumble shook the building and the roof opened. Kayru tugged the lever, which gave an audible click as it locked into place. He flipped up two small switches, and pressed three buttons in sequence,

"Beginning Hover Mode." he announced.

"...Closing the bridge." Noel agreed, pushing a square-shaped blue button. Kayru pulled the lever again; it clicked five times before he finally let it rest in one place,

"That's the Maximum," he announced, "When we reach the height, we'll clear the building entirely. Get ready."

-----------------------------------

The roof of the hanger opened wide, retracting down the sides of the building.

"Let's go!" Cid yelled, "Get to the Starblaze and hurry, dammit!"

"..." Vincent ran towards the hanger, shooting anyone in his way as Cid followed at his heels. After entering the hanger a harsh wind whipped Vincent's hair and cape out behind him, forcing him to shield his eyes with one hand; the two large fans on either side of the ship were whirling madly. Vincent ran up the lowered bridge into the ship, shooting at the Dark Moon agents who chased them.  
"Take off!!" Cid yelled, "Take the Fuck Off!!" With a jerk, the ship began to rise, the bridge closing. Cid leapt up, barely being able to pull his shoulders over the edge of the slowly closing bridge. The bottom of the ship was rattled with the bullets from the agents below.

"...!" The raven-haired man clamped a hand over the blondes shoulder, beginning to pull him in,

"Wait-- wait!" Cid ordered looking back down as the ship flew higher and higher-- the maximum it would fly off the ground was just over one story, but it couldn't stay that high up for very long. The airship captain hurled his spear down, attempting to hit an agent. But he missed, and the spear punctured a steel barrel labeled 'fuel'; clear liquid leaked from the barrel and spread over the floor. The barrel was sitting near three others, also filled with fuel for the ship.

"..." an idea came to life in Vincent's mind,

"Fuck! I missed! Fuckit!" Cid cursed spitting his cigarette out accidentally, "Pull me up--Vin!?" the raven-haired man firmly grabbed the front of the blonde's shirt, yanking him up into the ship. He pulled the airship captain up to his eye level effortlessly, ignoring the small holes his gauntlet punched in the shirt and the small sound of tearing threads,

"You're in the way." Vincent informed him in a monotone, before pushing him to the side,

"What the hell--!?" Cid barked, watching Vincent take aim with his faithful gun.

"...Hn." He shot the last bullet in the clip; the bullet grazed the metal barrel that Cid's spear had punctured, resulting in sparks. The blonde's eyes sparkled realization, he scrambled to one wall, pushing a red button next to a speaker,

"Move Dammit! Move It, Move It, Move!!" Just as the loading bridge finished closing, the small embers struck the leaking fuel. All of the barrels were engulfed in flame as the Starblaze took off away from the hanger; a split second later the barrels exploded, sending a large geyser of flames into the sky and a shockwave out from the hanger. The helicopter that had been spotlighting Vincent and Cid crashed to the ground, already in flames, as the rest of the agents were burned alive. The shockwave from the explosion rattled the airship briefly, before racing out over the rest of the town.

Cid laughed loudly, whooping once before falling on his back,

"Damn, Vincent." he told him, "You're crazy, aren't you?"

"..." the raven-haired man said nothing,

"...Jeeze," the blonde sighed, sticking another cigarette in his mouth, "You act just like Kayru. You two 're gonna be good friends, I can tell."

"..." Vincent loaded his last clip into the Cerberus, putting it back in its holster, as Cid stood up.

"If you need more ammo," the airship captain paused, lighting his cigarette and taking a draw on it, "Go complain to Ryo. He's the explosives guy...Goddamn..."

"..." the raven-haired man still said nothing, blinking at how the captain could be so calm after what just happened. Also at how he blatantly cursed so much without a care.

-----------------------------------

"Move Dammit! Move It, Move It, Move!!" Cid's voice screeched over a loudspeaker. Kayru slammed his fist down on the button labeled 'FF' which glowed with green light after being pressed; with a jerk the Starblaze soared forward, leaving the airspace over the hanger effortlessly. _Now I get it..._ Marii thought, _'N' is Neutral. 'F' is Forward, and 'FF' must mean Full Forward. 'R' is Reverse, and 'FR' is Full Reverse...I see._

Watching Kayru control and monitor the ship from his seat made it look really easy. So easy that, for a second, the girl thought she might be able to do it. A loud explosion ripped the sky, and she tiny ship shook violently. Noel and Ryo almost fell out of their seats, while Kayru wasn't fazed in the least and continued steering the speeding ship over the buildings. Marii almost fell, but grabbed onto the seat in the middle of the room for balance. She noted that it was surrounded by an entirely different control and monitoring console; Cid probably sat here during the flight. Aldrick was running around in a circle on the open floor behind Kayru's chair, warking like crazy.

"Marii, would you keep Aldrick quiet?" asked Kayru as he flipped up a small switch he had hit down earlier and shifted the large lever forward two clicks. The girl suddenly got a brief sensation of falling, and noticed that they were now hovering lower over the grassy fields outside of the town. That lever controlled how high the ship hovered off the ground.

"S-sure." she agreed, jogging to Aldrick. She scooped up the little chocobo, hugging him gently, "Its ok, Aldrick. I'm sure Cid and Vincent are fine."

"..." the little chocobo fell silent in her arms, nuzzling up to her cutely. The blue haired man finished by pushing the green button labeled 'F' and she ship slowed down to about half speed.

"There. They shouldn't be able to catch up to us now." Kayru announced.

"Marii, what the hell happened, anyway?" Noel asked, spinning her chair from its usual position of facing a monitor to facing her, Ryo did the same. She pulled a roll of bandages from a hidden compartment near her seat, jogging over to Marii to help her wrap the wound in her arm.

"Yes. Starblaze was not supposed to take off until tomorrow at the earliest, I am curious to know why Cid would demand it leave tonight. As well as be rash enough to give Ryo the 'Go for broke' signal." Kayru agreed, not taking his eyes from the view in front of him.

"Tell!" Ryo agreed, although he sounded happy that he got to use his explosives finally. _Why do they have spinny-chairs...?_ she wondered briefly.

"Well, you see..." She then explained what had happened from the first yells outside to when Kayru and Ryo ran with her all the way into the control room.

By the end, Marii was sitting on the floor, legs crossed. Aldrick was nestled comfortably in her lap, seeming content to stay there. Noel had long since finished tying the bandages around her arm, and had taken to sitting next to her to listen.

"Goddamn..." Ryo cursed, scratching the miniscule stubble of the beard he was _trying_ to grow.

"Wow," Noel added, "Well, at least Cid and Vincent saved you, right?"

"...Mm." she mumbled in agreement, remembering how she had saved her engagement ring because she had put it on a necklace. "...Wonder if they're ok...?"

As if on cue the door to the bridge open,

"Man! Look at Starblaze fly! It's fucking amazing, ain't it?" Cid whooped walking into the room. Vincent blinked once, eyes scanning over everyone else in the room, before leaning his back contentedly against the wall near the door.

"..." he said nothing, but Marii could tell the raven-haired man wasn't very happy at the moment. The captain walked to Kayru, expending some of his extreme happiness by giving the pilot a friendly smack on the back.

"How far have we come, Kayru?" he asked, still beaming.

"..." the pilot gave Cid a blank look, pushing up his glasses which had fallen down his nose with Cid's 'Congratulatory Back Pounding'. "...Hold on." he responded. After throwing another switch the right half of the land in front of them disappeared, and was replaced with an image of a shrinking Aiera as they flew farther and farther from the town.

"Vincent." Ryo called softly,, quickly jogging to the man,

"..." Vincent glanced at him, acknowledging his existence,

"Watch this. Kayru's a robot calculator with stuff like this." he whispered excitedly, staring at the back of Kayru's chair expectantly.

"...?" slight curiosity poked inside of him briefly, but he quickly smothered it with indifference.

"..." Kayru studied the image of the steadily receding town for a second, holding his glasses slightly beneath eye level by one rim. Marii glanced up in time to see his grey eye flash for a split second. "...5.398 miles..." he paused, "...5.40 miles, flat." he announced, flicking a switch which made the image of Aiera disappear.

"How far will we travel if we keep this up all night?" Kayru, stared at the land in front of them,

"...If we keep traveling at this rate we will travel 20.42257 miles by ten tomorrow morning." The blue haired man returned his glasses to their proper place on the bridge of his nose. Marii stared at him in confused awe.

"Cool huh?" Ryo asked, "His grey eye is Robotic! Lost his real one in an accident a while ago."

"..." Vincent found the fact slightly interesting, but no where near as exciting as Ryo did. However when the bleach-blonde spoke the raven-haired man noticed that the front two teeth on the boys upper and lower jaw were a blackish-silver color, like they were badly made replacements.

"Okay!" Cid barked, walking back to the middle of the bridge, "Looks like we're traveling' together, for now...Where are we going is the question."

"We did not have a destination planned in the first place." Kayru reminded him, turning his chair 90 degrees. He folded one leg over the other, before pulling a book from a small compartment under the steering console. A tan pentacle decorated the dark brown leather cover; after flipping it open, he began reading its contents intently. "There is no schedule that we are currently bound to." he added, not even bothering to look up from his book.

"..." Cid grumbled under his breath, sticking a new cancer stick in his mouth and giving it life with his lighter, "Well..." he turned to the raven-haired man, "You said you were traveling Vin. Where were you going?"

"..." Vincent sighed, "It's Vin_cent_," he corrected, finding the nickname was beginning to annoy him, "After stopping Aiera I was going to head to Yassune."

"Looking for information on that Dark Moon thing?" asked Ryo who had returned to his seat; after sitting down the boy began spinning his chair in a slow circle.

"..." Vincent cast an annoyed glare towards Marii, who scratched the back of her head, lowering her eyes apologetically. "...Yes." he sighed,

"Well then, we'll go with you." Cid announced, blowing a rather large smoke ring into the air, "We needed to give Starblaze a good test run anyway...Besides, I wanna find these Dark Moon sons a bitch's and give them a piece of my fucking mind for blowing up our hanger, destroying a lot of Aiera, and attacking Marii."

Vincent decided against reminding Cid that it was Ryo and his explosives that destroyed most of the town, not the Dark Moon agents; and it was Cid's spear that pierced the oil can and Vincent's bullet that ignited it, thus causing the explosion.

"Anything waiting in Yassune?" asked Noel, "Should we pick up the pace?"

"..." he shook his head once, "...A man named Reeve said that he had information I could use. In Yassune I would meet with one of his associates in a designated location, and then they would introduce me to Reeve...However I told him I was going to Yassune by foot...He won't expect me there for a week at least."

"Fine, fine," the airship captain barked, rubbing his forehead, "We go to Yassune, takin' however the fuck long we want. And if we get there early we can just relax. Agreed?"

"...Fine." Vincent mumbled.

"I do not care either way." Kayru responded, shrugging his shoulders slightly, never stopping in his avid book-reading.

"I can't go home...I'll go wherever you do." Marii agreed.

"That town was boring anyway." Roy agreed, spinning in faster circles,

"Anywhere you guys go, I'll go. Who knows what you'll do without a doctor...or someone who cooks edible food." Noel agreed, before saying quickly, "I-I mean other than you Kayru."

"..." Kayru said nothing. Marii glared at her,

"W-well you aren't technically part of the crew...!" the girl insisted, trying to protect herself from imminent pain.

"Uh-huh..." she mumbled skeptically.

* * *

Can you say 'Yay for some frickin action already'?  
Hope you all liked it.

Reviews would be most appriciated


	4. 3 Meet the Crew

Yay for chapter 4!! Sorry it took me a while to post

Everyone gets a formal introduction in this chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

"Alright, alright, alright." Cid agreed from his chair, puffing heavily on his faithful cigarette, "Now, let's go through the formal introductions. Okay, Vin-" 

"-cent-" the man finished,

"-Meet my crew. C'mon guys! Introduction! Name, Job, and Weapons! Go!!" The man barked, leaning back in his chair and continually puffing at the cigarette for the nicotine rush.

"M-my names-Woah...!" Ryo fell out of his chair, apparently at a loss for balance from his dizziness, "H-hold on a second...someone else go first...ugh..." he pressed his face against the floor as his face turned green, he murmured, "Make...world...stop...spinning..." Kayru looked up from his book reluctantly.

"...Kayru." he sighed, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger, "...I am the pilot and navigator; I also keep track of supplies and the budget." From his man-of-few-words, I'd-rather-read-my-book-than-talk-with-you kind of attitude, Vincent knew he and Kayru would be fast friends. "I use throwing daggers and," He nodded to the book in his lap, "I am currently researching the art of Alchemy; changing one substance into another by changing its molecular structure."

"Name's Noel." the black-and-pink haired girl picked up, "I go _get_ the needed supplies, and if you're hurt just see me. I do cleaning too; if you leave a big mess though, you're dead cause I don't like cleaning _that_ much. I'm a chakram specialist, and if I don't have my chakram's then I throw my wrench and hammer!" _Resourceful...I suppose._ Vincent sighed mentally.

"Ugh..." Ryo sat up groggily, the green in his complexion almost gone, "Th' names Ryo the Dragon. Y'know, cause Ryo means 'dragon' and all... Plus, I breathe fire." he clanked his front teeth together, blowing his air between his teeth; a small stream of flames issued from his mouth, "Cool, huh?"

"..." the raven-haired man was curious as to how the boy did that, but wouldn't further add to the boy's ego by admitting to curiosity,

"Eh, I do maintenance on the ship. And problems that Cid hasn't gotten to yet, ask me and I'll take care of 'em. I make my own explosives and stuff too."

"...Vincent Valentine." the man agreed softly, "...I know some martial arts, and how to use a gun."

"Marii," the black-haired girl finished, "I know a little martial arts, in the form of Self Defense...Heh. That's really it.."

"Haha, Marii dosn't have much to say." Noel teased, poking her in the shoulder. The girl swatted her hand away,

"And I guess I could take care of Aldrick when Cid's busy." she added. The baby chocobo warked in agreement from her lap.

"Sounds good to me." Cid agreed, spitting the cigarette butt into a trashcan hidden under the console near him. He leaned back in his chair, putting his feet on the console, "Okay! Kayru, you're gonna stay in here tonight."

"Yes." he agreed, turning back to the steering console, and continued reading.

"Phew...I feel better...I think," Ryo said standing, "...Oh...?" his face turned green. He clamped his hand over his mouth; he jetted from the room, pushing by Vincent, screaming "Bathroom!" Vincent watched the boy run down the hall, turning the corner sharply and running into the bathroom.

"..." he began to wonder if he would be able to survive this flight to Yassune... Cid groaned hiding his eyes in his hand,

"Goddamn..." he sighed, "Gah...Noel! Just go show Marii and Mr. Goth to the fucking rooms already..." Vincent gave him a blank glare, "What th' hell are you glarin' at?" Cid barked, seeing nothing wrong with the nickname.

"..." Vincent said nothing, before shaking his head slowly.

"Right." the girl agreed, pulling herself up by using the arm of Kayru's chair. Marii scooped the sleeping chocobo from her lap before pushing herself up,

"What do I do with Aldrick?" she asked,

"Uh...Take him for the night," Cid told her, putting a new cigarette in his mouth, lighting it up with his faithful lighter. The girl wondered if Cid had a lot of lighter fluid in that same lighter, or if he had more than one in his sash. "I'm probably gonna stay in here for a little while." Following Noel and Vincent out of the bridge, Marii almost thought she heard Kayru sigh when he found out he would have company.

-------

Marii was content for the time being to just lie on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Everything she had, or would have had, was back in Aiera; she had grown up there, her parents died there... She closed her eyes with a quiet sigh, rolling on her side. Trying to release some of the anger and depression she felt welling inside of her, she began to blame Vincent for all of it. If he hadn't gotten attacked in front of _her_ house... Hell, if he hadn't even _shown up_ in the first place she'd still be living in Aiera.

"..." she sighed, deciding that blaming Vincent would get her nowhere. Besides, if it wasn't for him, she _would_ still be living in Aiera...She would never get the chance to get over her fiancé...

Sighing once more, Marii snuggled down into the mattress and blankets, burying her face into the soft pillow. She kicked off her shoes, voting to sleep in her clothes for now, and crawled under the covers. In no time the girl was fast asleep, wondering what this journey had in store for her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

A cell phone rang, a familiar victory theme blaring as the ring tone. A man in his early thirties with tan skin and dark hair picked it up from its place on the table and flipped it open. He held the phone up to the side of his head.

"...Hello?" he asked.

"Reeve..." a voice growled from the other end of the phone, "Well? Is he there...? Is he coming?!"

"Yes, yes, yes..." he agreed, voice shaking slightly, "Yes. Mr. Valentine is coming to Yassune... He'll be here in a week."

"What about that girl that he was staying with...?" he looked up, expectantly. A boy in his late teens with shoulder length silver hair which covered his left eye was sitting across the table from him, feet propped up on the table casually. He was dressed in a tight black leather outfit; a katana with two blades attached to the same hilt was sheathed behind his waist. He smirked at Reeve,

"Mr. Valentine took her with him as they escaped in an airship." he explained, "It was piloted by some blonde man. With two other men and a girl crewing the ship."

"Well?!" the voice on the other end of the phone hissed.

"Yes. She's with them." Reeve pulled 500 gil out of his pocket, sliding it across the table tot he silver haired man. "They're traveling in an airship; they might get here faster than expected, actually..."

"..." the silver haired man turned the money over in his hands as Reeve finished his conversation and hung up the phone.

"Kadaj," he asked, addressing the man across the table from him, "I need you and your group to keep tracking Vincent and the girl."

"Well," the man named Kadaj mumbled knowingly, slipping the money into his pocket, "It will cost more..."

"Here." Reeve pulled a bag of 1,000 gil out of a drawer at his end of the desk, sliding it across the table.

"Hmm...A good down payment, I suppose." Kadaj agreed, taking the bag and standing. "Yazoo, Loz. Let's go." he ordered, standing. A man just slightly taller than him, with much longer hair, smirked, nodding. A tall ogre of a man with short silver hair opened the door. They were both clad in leather like Kadaj. Yazoo was the one with the longer silver hair; the tallest of the three was Loz.

-------

After getting outside, the three took their seats on three different motorcycles which were parked near one another.

"So...what now, Kadaj?" Yazoo asked as the leader divided up the 1,500 gil equally. "Aiera was rather interesting...Maybe we should have told him _everything_ we knew about the group." they had left out the weapons that each member of the group used.

"No, why tell him everything?" Kadaj responded simply, smirking at his partner. He passed the five hundred gald to each of them,

"Yeah. Are we really gonna go after these people, or just take this guys money?" Loz agreed. The three Mercenaries weren't exactly trustworthy people,

"No...We'll do this job." Kadaj responded as his motorcycle engine began to purr, "Besides, he hasn't paid us in full yet. We'll disappear _after_ we get our full money's worth." Yazoo and Loz chuckled evilly in agreement, before revving up their motorcycles and taking off into Yassune for the night.

* * *

Hehehe...Sorry, I just _had_ to put Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz in here somewhere.  
Wonder what'll happen. Hm, hm, hm...? 

Review would be appreciated!


	5. 4 Training Day

Sorry for teh long wait...School+Writers Block NOOOOOO!  
Yeah...Only Marii, Kayru, Ryo and Noel belong to me.  
Aldrick is mine, but also owned in part by Byne Zearse

* * *

"I'm going to What today?!" Marii demanded. In shock from her outburst Aldrick half leapt, half fell, from her shoulder; landing on Cid's empty chair. After breakfast was finished the group left Ryo alone to put the dishes away, it was his turn, and migrated to the bridge. Upon arriving, Cid had announced that Marii needed to learn how to fight, and that he was going make her train.

"Ya heard me." Cid agreed, "Someone's gonna teach you how to fight. You're going to train today."

"Wh-what?!" the girl demanded.

"..." Vincent watched the display, feeling somewhat sorry for the girl because of Cid's avid determination in teaching her to fight.

"Th-then who the hell will teach me? Not you." the girl told him. Feeling he had to do something to keep from loosing his mind on this flight, Vincent began to volunteer.

"...I suppose I could--"

"No you can't!" Cid barked. He threw one of his arms around Vincent's neck in a headlock, hugging the raven-haired man to him,

"...!" one of Vincent's eyebrows twitched, feeling his cheeks turning light pink in color. Marii stared at them, only moving by blinking, until Vincent freed himself angrily.

"..." the raven-haired man glared at Cid out of the corner of his eye, brushing the wrinkles from the shoulders of cape one hand.

"Kayru 'll teach you!" the blonde ordered.

"..." the blue haired man looked up from his book upon hearing his name, "...Hm?" he turned his chair half way of the way back. "I will teach...who what?"

"You heard me, Kayru!" Cid barked, puffing heavily on another cancer stick. Marii had been counting, and that was the 11th cigarette he had since nine in the morning. It was now 9:45. "You will help teach Marii more fighting! Today!"

"..." Kayru sighed, closing his book reluctantly and replacing it the hidden compartment under the steering console. He had been sitting in the bridge reading that book all night; contrary to what one would expect, the blue-haired man held no signs of fatigue or exhaustion. His features didn't droop even slightly, and there were no bags visible under his eyes; he was perfectly awake and alert. "...How? I do not use any form of martial arts."

"Then use your tasimuntination and make a robot or something!" Cid announced, horribly butchering the word 'transmutation' and creating a new word in its place.

"_Transmutation_..." Kayru growled softly in correction, "...Fine. Find me a few metal scraps, and I will see what I can do."

"Ryo, Noel!" Cid barked loudly. The two quickly appeared in the bridge and went to their captain obediently,

"Yeah?" Ryo asked, drying his hands off on his pants to rid himself of any lingering dish soap.  
"What's up?" Noel added.

"Find 80.47 pounds of scrap metal, and place it in the hold." Kayru ordered, a small sigh following his words. The two of them groaned, not looking forward to the task set upon them, before dragging themselves from the bridge to try and find scrap metal. "It will take them approximately 2.5 hours to find the required metal." the blue haired man announced, turning towards Marii as he stood from his chair, "Meet me in the hold then."

"Fine..." she sighed. Kayru left for his room murmuring something to himself about how he needed to practice his transmutation anyway; as well as something about needing to read more on transmutation theories. Marii turned to Cid, "Cid! What did you do that for?!" she demanded, "Can't you see Kayru dosn't want to train me?!"

"Eh. He'll get over it." he responded, shrugging carelessly, "You needed to train... didn't you?" she groaned, hitting him in the forehead with her open palm,

"Not now, I don't!"

"Hey-!" the blonde barked, swatting her hand from his forehead. Vincent watched the little argument that ensued (--which Cid had no hope of winning but wouldn't abandon anyway--) with some interest. Marii didn't seem to want any help with anything she had to do; while Cid always stuck his nose in her business and tried to help anyway. _...He really is like her older brother..._ he commented mentally.

-------

Two and a half hours later Marii drug herself down to the hold. When she arrived there she found Kayru drawing a pentagram on the floor with a stick of white chalk. In the middle was piled all the spare parts and bits of metal Ryo and Noel had found.

"...Good, you are here." he greeted, finishing the circle, and putting the chalk in his coat pocket.

"What...are you drawing?" Marii asked, approaching Kayru slowly.

"A transmutation circle." he explained, pressing the palms of his hands together in a way that resembled prayer. "Wait there." she stopped obediently in her place. The blue haired man put his palms on the edge of the circle.

Blue light, closely resembling blue electricity, crackled loudly and surged from every chalk line Kayru had drawn, Marii shielded her eyes with one hand as she watched through squinted eyes. A strong wind blasted from the edge of the circle, billowing Kayru's ponytail and jacket out behind him; Marii's short hair whipped against the side of her face before blowing out straight behind her as well. The pile of metal moved, morphing together then raising up. It moved up, moving around somewhat gracefully as it formed a bulky figure.

Soon the light and loud crackling stopped; what stood in the circle instead of the pile of metal was a somewhat-bulky training dummy. Marii gawked at the figure as Kayru stood, adjusting his glasses while examining the figure seriously,

"Hmm..." he mumbled disapprovingly. "The figure is a little lopsided...and somewhat bigger than I had hoped. I should only use 60.247 pounds of metal next time..." he announced, the girl stared at him. He just made a 5' 8'' doll from metal that was originally heaped together in a pile, and now he was criticizing it!?  
"Wh-what?" Marii asked, "Th-that's amazing, Kayru! You made a--"

"-I need to learn the art better; and grasp a better understanding of equivalent exchange." the blue haired man interrupted, looking at her over his shoulder. He looked back to the figure lowering his head slightly "I have only been studying it for two years now. Had I been more experienced, this doll would be much more well-built."

"..."

"However I suppose it shall serve the purpose it has been created for." he sighed, pushing up his glasses slightly with his middle finger, "Come," he took a step to the side, motioning towards the training dummy.

"And...do...What, exactly?" Marii asked, shrugging her shoulders dumbly.

"Attack it." he ordered, "Practice every attack form that you know, this should help strengthen you." Marii sighed, before doing what Kayru ordered.

-----------------------------------------------

Yazoo pulled his binoculars from his eyes, squinting into the distance.

"Hmm..."

"See anything yet?" Loz whined. Yazoo replaced the binoculars over his eyes, trying to focus in on the small speck in the distance that was moving a little. "I'm so bored... Kadaj--"

"I don't want to play." his older brother growled, lying across his bike in the shade of the various oak and cherry-blossom trees. He had been attempting to nap, but now decided not to bother. "They should be here soon..." Yazoo was the only one not currently in the shade. The ledge his bike was parked on wasn't covered by the trees. All of the bright sunlight that rained down shimmered on his perfectly silver hair, reflecting off of the clean surfaces of his bike.

"I see _something_ in the distance." Yazoo responded, putting his binoculars away. "Let's get closer and make sure." he suggested, desperate for some action.

"Yes, lets...but not too close." Kadaj agreed, righting himself on his bike. Three engines revved, and three bikes jumped from the edge of the tall cliff, speeding down the side of the mountain from which sprouted the cliff. They sped off towards the speck which was steadily growing larger.

Yassune was nestled right at the base of the mountain; on the other side was a small harbor next to the ocean. The only city remotely close to Yassune which didn't require a boat to reach was Guaine. It was a five day, at the least, hike to Guaine; biking, it was maybe two days.

------------------------------------------------

"Marii, stop. That is enough." Kayru ordered. The training dummy was severely dented in the chest and head area; some of the dents were smeared dark red with blood. It had been two hours since she had begun her training; her knuckles were blistered and bleeding a little. She knew a healthy amount of fighting techniques, however most of them revolved around using her fists and not her legs. "You are ruining your hands."

"R-right..." she agreed, sinking to her knees and staring at her injured and bleeding knuckles. Her entire hands throbbed with pain, causing her fingers to twitch slightly. She flinched lightly, watching a thin trail of her blood run from her knuckles. Her lower legs ached steadily from colliding with the metal head of the dummy; however they weren't nearly as damaged as her knuckles. _I...I didn't even...notice I did that..._ she mumbled in her head. She had not been aware that she had been hurting her knuckles until Kayru told her to stop.

"...Let me see your hands." the blue haired man ordered, kneeling next to her and holding out his hands. Marii rested her hands in his; Kayru examined her bleeding knuckles seriously, noting how her hands shook and her fingers twitched slightly of their own accord in response to pain.

"..."

"...Go see Noel." he advised, releasing her hands then standing, "In Yassune you need to purchase fighting gloves to protect your hands." Marii pushed herself up,

"Right...I will. Thanks--"

"Do not thank me." Kayru ordered, "Do not thank a person for such a small and menial task. It is pointless."

"...Sorry." she apologized softly, before leaving the hold.

-------

Marii left. Kayru drew another alchemy circle on the floor, planning to de-transmutate the training dummy and then fix it.

"...Why do you always do that, Kayru?" Ryo's voice asked from above him.

"...Do what?" Kayru responded as he finished drawing the required transmutation circle.

"Be so cold to Marii like that." the bleach-blonde explained, "I mean, c'mon. All she wanted to do was say 'thanks' and you went off on her. Earlier too; she was tryin' to compliment your alchemy and you were all 'no it's bad'."

"I have not 'gone off' on anybody." Kayru responded, de-transmutating the dented training doll. "The training dummy was a bad example of a transmutation."

"Well...I think she likes you..." Ryo added thoughtfully, waving one of his flame-tattooed arms around carelessly, "You could at least be alittle nicer to her, ya know?"

"..." Kayru sent a blank look up at him. "You mentioned 'going off' on people, correct?"

"Mm?" he looked back down,

"...I think I will 'go off' if you insist on continuing this meaningless conversation."

"Woah--hey, sorry." the bleach-blonde told him, putting up his hands as if to push back an invisible attacker. "Just thought I'd tell ya. Oh, and Cid says get back to the bridge. He's tired of piloting the ship."

"..." Kayru sighed. "...Fine. I shall be there shortly."

---------------------------------------

The purring of motors grew softer and softer, and then died away. Yazoo raised his binoculars again,

"Hmm..." he focused in a little closer on the object in his sights,

"Well?" Kadaj asked impatiently, kicking down the kickstand with his heel and leaning his bike on it as he got off.

"Yes. That's them." Yazoo handed the binoculars to his older brother whom walked to his side. Kadaj raised the binoculars to his eyes, watching the airship heading towards them,

"Good. It's about time they showed up. I was getting tired of waiting." he grunted, giving the binoculars back to Yazoo. Loz was busy stamping out the flowers around his bike, which Kadaj quickly noticed. "Loz!"  
"...?" he looked up, smearing a petunia into the ground with the heel of his boot.

"What are you doing?" Kadaj demanded,

"They stink." he explained simply, nodding towards the flowers; before he continued to savagely stomp them to death. Kadaj groaned, hiding his eyes in one hand in a 'Lord Smite Me Now' gesture. Yazoo sighed softly, shaking his head, as he put his binoculars away.

------------------------------------------------

After Noel had finished her fussing at Marii for hurting her hands the way she had, she wrapped the girl's knuckles in bandages,

"There." she announced, nodding in a satisfied manner to Marii's bandage-wrapped hands. "Your hands should be good for a while now. Just don't do any more punching and make it worse."

"Don't have to tell me twice..." Marii sighed gratefully, looking at her hands and no-longer-throbbing knuckles, "Thanks Noel."

"Eh, whatev." she responded, shrugging simply. "C'mon, let's get to the bridge before Cid drives Vincent crazy." Marii nodded in agreement and the two girls took off towards the bridge.

------------------------------------------------

Vincent was sitting quite contentedly in the bridge. He had taken residence in Ryo's chair when the boy left to fetch Kayru as Cid had ordered, while said captain was sitting in the pilot's chair, chin leaning on the steering wheel as he blankly stared out ahead of the ship. Aldrick was scurrying on the floor in a three foot circle around Vincent, watching the man curiously, stopping every now and then to tilt his head side to side and examine him. The chocobo made no noise or sound other than the soft scratching of his little talons on the floor as he ran, Vincent had no problem with the inquisitive little bird...It was the birds _owner_ which was giving him a headache.

"Vincent!" Cid whined again. The raven-haired man all but flinched hearing his name being called,

"...What now?" he asked, knowing that no response would only cause Cid to whine louder.

"I'm bored!" he announced. _Is that so..._ Vincent sighed mentally,

"Just keep steering the Starblaze." he ordered, closing his eyes. "Kayru will be back soon." _By the Gods above he'd better return soon..._

"But then what?" the blonde man persisted, "I'll still be bored! Besides steering my baby isn't any fun--there's nothing to look at out there!" he lifted one arm from his side and threw it towards the view in front of the ship as if to emphasize his statement.

"..." Vincent sighed, "Then bother your Crew and Marii when they return."

"Hmm..." Cid mumbled thoughtfully, turning the chair back so he could face Vincent properly. "Y'know...That's a good idea, Vin!" the man groaned inaudibly hearing his nickname had returned.

"...hn." he responded.

"Ha, that's why I like you," Cid went on, lighting up yet another cigarette, "Even if you are a lot like Kayru, you helped save Marii. So I guess you ain't all shit."

"..." _At least I'm sane._ he responded in his head.

"So, whaddaya think of me?"

"...?" Vincent looked up, confused. The sudden odd question caught the man off guard,

"C'mon now, don't be shy." Cid demanded, scratching the stubble of his beard idly, "What about me? My crew says I'm annoying and some shit like that but I still know what I'm doin'. Marii refuses to give me a fuckin' answer. So what do you say?"

"..." Vincent blinked twice at the captain. "...If Marii wouldn't give you an answer what makes you think that I would?"

"Aw come on...!" the man whined, slinking down in his chair so that his waist and legs were out over the floor, his back supported in the seat. It was probably intended to be a look of dejection as he puffed away on his faithful cigarette, "Don't have that fuckin' attitude, Vin! That was entertainin'!"

"..." _Entertaining for you, torture for me._ the raven-haired man sighed in his head.

Before the grueling game of 20 Questions could continue, the door to the bridge opened. Kayru, new alchemy book in hand, strolled through the door with Ryo close at his heals. Vincent rose from his seat wordlessly, and walked towards the front of the ship; the tattered crimson cape around his shoulders fluttered weakly behind him. Aldrick jumped out of the way, head tilting to one side slightly as he watched Vincent; before scampering eagerly after him, still examining him curiously. However he seemed to be a lot more curious in the man's cape than in him; from its movement, he probably thought the cape was alive. _For his own good, I hope Aldrick learns to curb his curiosity one day._ Vincent thought, glancing at his chocobo-shadow. Cid rose from the seat he had stolen and allowed Kayru to retake his proper place. The blue haired man groaned softly, before gradually turning the wheel 45 degrees; the ship turned, and headed on a new path,

"I told you to watch the map," he informed his captain in a sigh,

"What map?" Cid barked, spitting out the stub of his spent cigarette and crushing it with his foot before Aldrick noticed there was something else to examine, "I didn't see any fuckin' map."

"..." Kayru pointed to the upper right hand corner of the screen, only saying two words, "_That_ map." In the upper right hand corner, a small blue line gradually grew longer, going towards a flashing red dot. Instead of remaining on its path towards the dot, the line had gone slightly off course; most likely from the captains inattentive piloting. Cid muttered afew insults and curses under his breath, which the blue-haired man shrugged off casually.

* * *

Hope you liked it! Reviews would be greatly appreciated!! 


	6. 5 Arrive in Yassune and the Mercenaries

Wow, two chapters in one day!  
I'm on a fuckin' role!  
...that's gonna stop now!

* * *

Early the next morning the ship finally slowed to a stop, and lowered down to the ground. It landed somewhat shakily, however it could have been much worse. As the mismatched group left the ship Kayru handed Noel the supply list. After which they pretty much split up for the day, agreeing to meet at the ship once again around noon.  
--

As Marii strolled through the street she mentally guessed where everyone had gone. She placed her bandage wrapped hands in the pockets of her almost-overly-large black jacket which she wore over her crimson tee-shirt. The bottoms of her baggy navy jeans scuffed the ground, and were crushed when they were caught under the heels of her black boots. _Kayru probably went to a bookstore or something for more alchemy books. Noel's going supply shopping...Ryo said something about another tattoo parlor. Cid's going to a parts shop, and Vincent is...hm...I don't know where Vincent went..._ Marii was currently questing for a store where she could buy properly padded gloves so that she could continue her training without fear of further injuring her hands.

--------

A small bell jiggled above the door as it opened. The girl walked somewhat cautiously into the weapons shop, the air held the smell of leather and freshly ground steel. The walls were decorated with many styles of swords: Wakizashi, Katana, Kodachi, Claymore's, Masumune and many broadswords; every now and then a bo-staff or spear similar to Cid's was visible as well. The ceiling was tiled with various shapes and sizes of shields. Closer to a counter in back were different styles of tetsugin, clawed gauntlets, heavy metal gauntlets, and shuriken in a wide variety of sizes.

"Hey..." she called, letting the door close behind her. She looked around the shop as she walked towards the counter slowly, "Anyone in here? This place open?"

There was no response to her call.

Marii walked to the desk, briefly examining the small service bell which sat on the edge. After glancing around and seeing nobody was coming, she tapped the small button on top of the bell with one finger, resulting in a light ding resonating around the shop.

"Yes, yes. Welcome." a man greeted quickly, walking out from a back room with a sign that said "Employee's Only.", "Danger, Heavy Machinery" and one that said, "Robotics Testing. Do Not Enter". The girl was somewhat put off by the signs, and almost turned and walked right out of the shop. However she forced herself to stay put, not feeling up to searching all of town to find another shop.

---

The store-owner strolled quickly over to the counter, taking his place behind it. He was a tall man with tan skin, short black hair and a black goatee; he was dressed in a somewhat odd, blue, full body outfit, "My name is Reeve, welcome to my weapons shop. How may I help you?"

"Uh, yeah..." she agreed, glancing down and noticing that the top of the counter was glass. Inside the counter held many styles and models of guns. A few looked somewhat like the three-barreled gun that Vincent used. _Hmm...I should tell Vincent to come here for ammo..._ she decided, "...I was looking for fighting gloves." she explained,

"You mean...like gauntlets?" he asked, shooting a glance towards her bandage covered hands.

"Yeah...kinda...But not actual metal gauntlets."

"Hmm...let's see..." he looked to her hands quickly once again before turning to the wall behind the counter, scanning it over quickly. "Ah here." he pulled a pair of black fingerless gloves from the wall; over the knuckles were small golden-colored half circles which were supposed to function somewhat like brass knuckles. He set the gloves on the counter so the girl could examine them "Were theres what you had in mind?"

"Yeah," she agreed; picking up one of the gloves and finding that it was somewhat heavy, "These are perfect."

"Glad to hear it." he agreed almost absently as he sent a glance towards the door from where he had come.

"How much for these?" she asked, reaching for the wallet in her back pocket. She noticed Reeve seemed distracted by the door, giving it a questioning and somewhat shocked look; he then mouthed a sentence. She wasn't good at reading lips, but she caught the word 'her'. Marii jerked her head towards the door suspiciously in time to see a whisp of silver disappear as it shut,

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Reeve asked, quickly changing the subject and turning back to her,

"Uh..." she agreed, slowly turning her head back to him; however her eyes lingered on the door for a few more seconds, "H-how much?"

"500 Gil." _That's...it?_ she wondered, fishing the required money from her wallet and giving it to him.

"Thank you, now if you need any further assistance just call." he told her hastily, before returning to the room.

---

Marii pulled her new gloves on slowly, staring at the door intently. _What the...?_ her eyes widened in both remembrance and realization, _Wait a-! Vincent was looking for a man named--! Dammit!!_ She quickly strode to the door, intending to tell Reeve they were here and Vincent needed to talk to him, when she heard muffled words from behind it. Curiosity towards Reeve's attitude earlier grew inside her, and against her better judgment she decided to eavesdrop. The girl turned the doorknob tentatively, nudging the door open a small crack and peaking though the space.

Behind the door was a surprisingly large room; the signs above the door did not lie when they said 'Danger Robotics'. In the back of the large room stood a halted assembly line which held half-assembled robotic arms and legs; various computer-run robotic arms stood motionlessly next to the assembly line, waiting to continue their work on the parts. Different styles of robots were positioned at random around the room as well; some were complete while others were missing an outer shell, their wires and inner parts clearly visible. A large bulletin board behind the assembly line had many different blueprints tacked to it; they seemed to be plans for robots or airships of some kind. Closer to the door was a well lit workbench with half-completed blueprints and many sheets of paper lying on it. Most of the paper had some form of scribbled notes, however almost half of the paper was covered in scribbles from where the notes were revised. A seemingly complete cat-shaped robot sat motionlessly on a small, low desk next to the workbench, a screwdriver and one other unidentifiable tool sat on the desk next to the cat. _What the hell is this place...?_ Marii wondered nervously,_ Did Vincent even know what kind of person Reeve was when he agreed to meet with him...?!_

Despite all of the distracting noises and sights of the robotics lab, Marii's eyes quickly fell on the storeowner. Three men of varying heights were speaking with Reeve in the middle of the robotics warehouse; each was dressed entirely in black, and had bright-silver hair. The shortest of them had shoulder length silver hair, some of which was brushed over his right eye; a sword sheath hung from the back of his waist. Next to him stood a slightly taller man, his silver hair fell over his shoulders and half way down his back; an oddly-shaped gun holster hung from each side of his waist. Finally, there stood a man whom towered over his companions. In contrast, his silver hair was short, and spiked straight up. Some form of robotic gauntlets covered the backs of his hands. The shortest of the three was the one to who Reeve was speaking,

"Are you sure that's the girl?"

"Yes." he agreed, a smirk on his lips, "She fled from Aiera with Vincent and that airship pilot. She's the one we've been looking for."

"But Vincent wasn't supposed to arrive for..."

"That dosn't matter." he interrupted, "You deal with Vincent whenever you want. But now, that girl needs to finish paying a debt." _Paying a...?_ she wondered. She had never seen any of these three men before in her life, how could she owe them anything. The two other silver-haired men chuckled in a somewhat evil manner. Reeve seemed to contemplate something momentarily,

"...Debt or not," he announced finally, "You shouldn't confront her yet...Wait until I've at least had time to learn what Vincent's plans are, we shouldn't raise too much suspicion now."

"Hn..." the big one grunted, "That's no fun."

"Why should we wait," the middle-heighted of the three asked, "We want the money that her _fiancé_ couldn't pay." _What...!?_ her breath caught and her eyes widened, _D-Damien...was...He owed...?_

"Agreed." the shortest finished, "We've been waiting long enough."

"Either way, I'm your employer." Reeve told them, "Follow my orders, or you don't get paid." the three silver-haired men mumbled in reluctant agreement. _I'm way out of my league here...I've gotta tell Vincent and the others--_ she took a step back, then another. She continued to step back cautiously and quietly, however she didn't watch where she was going, and backed into the counter.

Ding...

_Fuck!!_ Marii cursed mentally, almost biting the finger which hit the bell. She knew she didn't have much time and practically flew from the store, taking a sharp turn in the street, and running. In her panic she forgot which way she was supposed to go to in order to return to the airship, however all she wanted to do now was get away.

----

Ding...

"Hm?" Reeve looked over to the door, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz following suit. The door from the Robotics warehouse to the Weapons Shop was opened slightly. A small jingle from the bell pierced the brief silence which had fallen over them,

"Well, well," Kadaj smirked, "What should we do now, _Mr. Employer_?" Reeve sighed, shaking his head,

"I suppose you can't let her tell anyone what she's heard." he agreed, shaking his head, "Just don't make too big of a scene, understood?" they chuckled in agreement, running out of the back door of the electronics warehouse.

Reeve sighed softly as he flipped open his cell phone, selecting one of the numbers on speed dial,

"What is it?" a deep slightly-distorted voice asked,

"You'll have to move up your plans," Reeve told them, walking to the cat robot which was almost complete, "They're already here."

"...Good."

----------------------

Marii heard one of the men chasing her screaming 'stop'. She took a sharp corner and ran down the street, seeing a small vendor at the end of the street. The girl ran towards the vendor, putting her hand on the table and clearing it in one jump. She pressed her back against the bottom of the cart, catching her breath,

"H-hey!" the owner exclaimed. She had short black hair, restrained by a thin white headband. She wore a black tank top with a grey hood, a black arm covering on her lower left arm, a white wristband on her right; she also wore short black and grey shorts. "What are you doing?" she demanded, "You can't--"

"P-please--" she asked, trying to catch her breath, "I-I'm hiding...from my...My three ex-boyfriends..."

"Three?" she asked,

"S-silver haired boys...Th-they're coming this way..." the girl looked up, her eyes widening slightly,

"Woah...those three guys in black leather?"

"Yes." Marii confirmed.

"..." the girl looked from the men to Marii, then back to the men, then back. "...Yeah... You know you can stay down there for as long as you want, right?" the girl laughed softly,

"Th-thanks..."

---

"Hey--you want something?" Marii's heart skipped a beat, and she looked up slightly. The middle-heighted of the three, with the longest hair, stood in front of the stand. Marii shivered slightly when she saw a gun holster on each of his legs. "Hey!" the girl exclaimed,

"Shut up, bitch." the man growled, looking through the glass guarding her wares to try and find Marii,

"Hey! This isn't here just for you to look at! Buy or leave!" she demanded. The man drew one of his guns, pointing it at the girl. Marii gasped softly, heart racing; would he really kill this girl to find her? "I'll scream!" she barked, not intimidated, "I can scream really loud--This place will be swarming with people and police in no time!"

"..."

"Yazoo." a voice asked. Marii risked another glance back up, the shortest of them approached the one with the gun. "Put your gun away. We don't want her. Let's go." the man named 'Yazoo' grumbled something, putting his gun back in his holster. Then they left to rejoin their third friend,

"A-are you ok?" Marii asked once the three had completely disappeared from sight.

"I can see why you left them." the girl told her, putting her hands on her hips. Marii laughed nervously,

"I-I really owe you--what can I-?"

"The name's Yuffie, Yuffie Kisaragi." she interrupted, "If you want to repay me, then stop by Nalbeen some time, ok?"

"Right...I'm Marii Shuco."

"Any other boyfriends you gotta run away from?" Yuffie joked. Marii laughed nervously,

"Hey--Is there any that..." an idea poked her mind suddenly, "Sells alchemy books?"

"Alchemy? Hmm..." Yuffie tapped her nails on the counter, "...Will you pay me?"

"..." Marii sighed softly, fishing 100 Gil from her pocket, and giving it to Yuffie,

"Wahoo! Score!" the girl beamed, "Ok. Let's see..." she looked around seriously, tapping a finger against her chin. "Oh, well there's a Pawn Shop-- Madame Mundo's-- just down there." she pointed down the street. "Look for the sign with a Pyramid with an Eye in it."

"Thanks, Yuffie." Marii thanked, quickly jogging down the street. _Kayru...You'd better be there...! Please!_ she begged mentally.

---

After a few brief minutes of jogging the girl found Madame Mundo's Pawn Shop. Painted on the window, just as Yuffie described a pale bronze pyramid with a large eye in the middle was painted on the window. The girl quickly stepped into the shop, finding it wasn't anything like she expected. Instead of it being a well lit, pleasant shop...it was fairly dim. A strong scent of lavender incense filled the air. Three rows of bookshelves stood near one wall, two other walls lined with shelves of odds and ends. Along the final wall there was a counter, lined up behind it were multiple styles of canes and a few china figurines in a glass case. Marii quickly strode to the bookshelves, looking along the bookshelves desperately. Her heart skipped a beat when Kayru wasn't there.

"...Marii?" a hand rested on her shoulder. The girl barely suppressed a scream as she fell to the floor, body shaking. "Marii...!" The friend she had been searching for kneeled next to her, "Marii? What is wrong?"

"K-Kayru..." she sighed softly, trying to slow her pounding heart, "Y-you scared me...!"

"...I can see that." he agreed. She noted the leather-bound black book under his arm, a small tab stretching over the side opposite the binding to keep the book closed, "What is wrong? You seem nervous..." Still attempting to catch her breath, Marii explained what happened in the weapons shop, Kayru listened intently to her story.

---

"...I see." Kayru mumbled seriously, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "...We should hurry back to the Starblaze; we must inform Vincent about the nature of his informant."

"B-but what about those three?" Marii asked nervously, "Th-they're trying to find me--what if they've gotten to the ship already?"

"Do not worry." the blue-haired man assured, helping her up to her feet. "I will make sure you arrive safely."

"Thank you." the girl told him gratefully. The blue haired man turned his back to her, adjusting his glasses,

"...It is nothing." he responded. Marii could have sworn she faintly saw pink flash on his cheeks, however it quickly vanished.

* * *

Tada! Yes, Yuffie was finally introduced in this chapter!

This'll be the last one for a little bit whilst I try to think of what to do next chapter


	7. 6: Cait Sith and a Letter

Disclaimer: I have no idea if the Tea-Combination Marii uses in this story actually works.  
I used the first thing I could pull outta my ass. :)

* * *

"...We returned to the ship with less trouble than I imagined." Kayru announced, walking with Marii towards the bridge. They had run through Yassune, taking every back-road, alley, and side route imaginable. It took about an hour, but as a reward they never even heard mention of the three mercenaries from anyone they passed. 

"Mm..." Marii mumbled, the fact that those three mercenaries were still looking for her didn't exactly put her at ease. Kayru looked back at her, somewhat confused by her response, "I-I'm fine... I just need some time to calm down..." she assured.

"..." he didn't respond,

"Uh...I'm...gonna go make some tea...Want any?" she asked offhandedly, scratching the nape of her neck.

"...I suppose," Kayru responded in a nonchalant monotone, "It is only 11:00. We have some time before the others return." Marii sighed softly, parting ways with her friend at the bridge. She worried about herself, her friends...and Damien. The girl shook the thoughts of her departed fiancé from her head as she put a kettle of water on the stove. _Did those three..._ she wondered, heart turning to ice _Would they have...? No...no, no...Damien is still alive... He has to be...They wouldn't have killed him..._ the girl knew full well that she was probably lying to herself, however that lie helped her feel a little bit better. While the water heated, she looked through the cupboards finding a small container of mint leaves _Hmm...Oh_. the girl's eyes lit up slightly when she also found a small container of, oddly out of place, blueberries. It was an odd combination, however she found that blueberries and mint worked quite well together. Marii quickly snatched them both from the cabinet, setting the ingredients on the counter next to the stove while managing to fish a metal tea-ball out of a drawer. She stuffed as many of the mint leaves into the tea-ball as she could fit, and dropped it in the hot water. The mint was quickly followed by a small handful of the ripe blueberries.

While the water slowly came to a boil, Marii set herself on a quest to find cups. After all that Kayru did to help her get back to the ship, she figured she'd take his tea to him. She found no teacups, however she did find two coffee mugs _Eh... whatever._ she figured, taking the cups from their shelf, _They'll work._

Soon the kettle whistled with full enthusiasm, and Marii poured the liquid into the two waiting cups, the faint smell of mint and blueberries. Just as she picked up both mugs and turned she almost jumped when she saw her blue-haired crewmember sitting at the table, reading. One arm was folded on the table; his other elbow rested on the table, his cheek leaned against his knuckles.

"K-Kayru--?" she stuttered, he raised his head slightly in acknowledgement of hearing his name. "Wh-when did you get in here?" she asked, heartbeat returning to normal. That was the second time he had scared her _today_.

"...A few minutes ago." he responded, returning to the reading of his new alchemy book, "...I apologize if I startled you."

"N-no...It's alright." she assured, setting his cup down next to his book. He mumbled a thank you, pushing up his glasses which had fallen down his nose slightly due to the angle of his head. Marii sat down across from him, sipping her hot tea slowly to avoid burning her mouth. Kayru took a sip of his tea as well, and she saw the somewhat curious look he gave her when the two flavors mixed together on his tongue. The girl smiled in response, "It's Blueberry and Mint." she explained, taking another sip of her tea, "My mother made it for me a lot when I was little."

"Hm..." he didn't say it aloud, but the girl could tell that he liked the drink.

------

Ten minutes later Noel walked into the kitchen, handing a stack of papers and a clipboard to Kayru. The man sighed softly in annoyance, reluctantly putting his book aside. He looked through the papers diligently as Noel poured herself a cup of tea,

"H-hey want me to heat that up first?" Marii asked, the idea of cold tea not really sounding appealing.

"Naah." she responded, "I like it cold." she took a long drink of the tea, "Huh...this is good." she commented, taking another swig of cold tea, causing Marii to consider trying it cold,

"Glad you like it." she responded, sipping her own tea which was still barely lukewarm.

"..." Kayru's expression turned slightly puzzled as he looked over the third paper in the stack he had recieved. "...Noel."

"Huh?" the girl looked up,

"...Are you certain that you calculated your expenses correctly?"

"Yeah," she responded, "Why? Does the budget not add up right?"

"..." he quickly scanned over the sheet again, "...I need to speak with Cid...We are 600 gil short." Marii almost choked on her tea when she remembered she didn't pay Cid the full 1,000 gil for that Hi-potion...

-------------------

At noon, the rest of the group returned to the ship. Cid had gotten some parts, Ryo had gotten an eyebrow piercing, and Vincent had purchased upgrades for his gun. Kayru directed them all to the kitchen, then Marii explained what happened.

"..." Vincent's eyes narrowed hearing about Reeve, "...So he is here... Where?" he was sitting across from the girl, arms folded over his chest seriously.

"No--You don't get it-!" Marii insisted, hitting a fist down on the table weakly to try and emphasize her point, "You can't go there! Those three Mercenaries he has will kill you!"

"..." Vincent gave her a doubtful look, as if he was asking if she truly thought so little of him.

"Th-they're bloodthirsty!" the girl insisted, "And with all of that robotics stuff Reeve had behind the shop who knows what _else_ he could have there...!!"

"Hmmm...Y'know I think I've heard of those bastards." Cid voiced thoughtfully, fishing around in his sash for a lighter. He was sitting next to Vincent, a yet-unlit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, "...They're uh...Dammit what's that name? Sh-hoova? Naw that isn't it...dammit...! Oh! Jenova, that's it."

"Je-what-na?" Ryo asked. He was leaning against the wall near the door, one fist jammed in his pocket, his other hand futzing with his new black-and-bronze eyebrow piercing. He had gone to the tatoo shop and not only gotten an eyebrow piercing, but also two tatoos on his shoulders; on his right, the kanji symbol for 'Evil', on his left the kanji symbol for 'Holy'. The 'Evil' was outlined in black, inked in red. The 'Holy' was outlined in black, inked in golden. For a brief instant Marii wondered what **else** Ryo wanted to tatoo onto himself.

"I don't know," the man spat, still unable to find a lighter. "They're a group of Mercenaries. The leader is some boy named Kadaj. The other two are his brothers, Yazoo and Loz...Ah-ha!" the blonde finally pulled a lighter from his sash and lit his cigarette. Kayru, whom had been listening, finally spoke. He was sitting on one side of Marii, with his fingers laced together, elbows leaning on the table; the man leaned forward slightly so he almost hid his mouth behind his hands.

"From the account Marii has told us," the blue-haired crew member voiced seriously, "Yazoo was the man whom threatened 'Yuffie'...It would seem he has something of a short temper."

"So we've gotta be careful." Noel finished, sitting on the other side of Marii, "We've gotta watch everywhere we go..."

------------------

A beeping noise suddenly issued from the bridge; a series of three short beeps, a pause, then a long beep. The sequence then continued on and on in a loop

"...Someone is at the entrance to the ship." Kayru announced, standing. He walked to the bridge, quickly followed by the rest of the group. Upon reaching his seat he pushed a purple button to the side of the steering wheel which said 'intercom'; and then the beeping stopped. The window to the outside flashed, then displayed a picture of the scene in front of the bridge...

"!!" Marii gasped. What stood there was the cat-robot she had seen in Reeve's shop. However it now wore a red cape, large brown shoes and white gloves, a small golden crown topping his head. In his hands appeared to be two envelopes,

"Hello?" he called, a Scottish accent in his voice. Apparently when Kayru began the video feed the cat found the camera--for he was directing his questions right at it, "My name is Cait Sith. I come on behalf of Mr. Tuesti."

"...Reeve." Vincent mumbled, knowing nobody in the crew knew Reeve's last name,

"Is there anyone by the names of Mr. Vincent Valentine or Mrs. Marii Shuco there?" the two in question looked at each other, although Marii was far more worried than Vincent, "Ah've a couplea letters I need to give them." he held forth the two envelopes, one of which said 'Vincent Valentine' the other said 'Marii Shuco'.

"..." Kayru looked back at them, "...What should we do?"

"I'll tell you what the fuck we're gonna do," Cid told him, brow furrowing as he pulled his cigarette from his mouth. He used his cigarette like a pointer, jabbing it towards the robotic cat which was standing outside the ship, "We're gonna go talk to the little bastard, and figure out what the hell's goin' on. _But_. We're all goin' out there. Together."

"...They will be right out." Kayru spoke into a microphone which had apparently materialized out of the control board, "Wait there."

"Alright." the cat responded, nodding once. Kayru pressed the intercom button again and the picture vanished.

"Alright Crew! Meet at the Hatch! And be ready for anything!" Cid barked, his voice far louder than it needed to be. All of his crew nodded determinedly in response,

-----

Cid slammed his fist against the large button which controlled the hatch, and the door lowered. The cat was waiting patiently for them, the two letters still grasped firmly in its glove covered hands. Marii and Vincent walked forward first, quickly followed by the rest of the group,

"It's a pleasure to meet you two," the cat announced, "Here." he held out the letters, which Marii and Vincent took cautiously.

"What th' hell is the big idea with this Reeve bastard!?" Cid demanded, walking forward. In an attempt to act like he was protecting Marii, he pushed the girl behind him; however this resulted in her loosing her balance. She would have fallen, had Kayru not quickly shot an arm behind her shoulders,

"Be careful," he murmured concisely as she regained her footing,

"I will...thanks..." she mumbled in response.

"Not sure what you mean, sir." Cait Sith responded, speaking to Cid, "But I don't appreciate you calling my boss a bastard. It'd be a good idea for you not to do it again."

"Why'd he send those three Jenova-Mercenary-Sons-a-bitches after Marii?! What's the fuckin' idea?!" Cid exclaimed, "She didn't do shit!" _...I eavesdropped..._ she mumble din her head, incriminating herself in her own mind.

"...Why did Reeve hire those Mercenaries?" Vincent asked,

"He hired them cause he didn't know what kinda person you were Mr. Valentine." the cat explained simply, ignoring Cid,

"H-hey!" the man barked,

"And, no offense, but after seeing your appearance, I don't rightly blame him."

"If the mercenaries were hired to protect Reeve," the man responded evenly, "Then why did he order them after Marii?"

"Eh," the cat shrugged, "He might've thought she was a spy from Dark Moon. E-Everything's written in the letters," the cat waved his hand towards the letters the two held, "He also sends his apologies to Mrs. Shuco." he bowed his head towards her. However this action caused Cait Sith to twitched violently, head jerking sharply down to the right repeatedly, sparks shooting from the left side of his neck. Then the cat collapsed on the ground, twitching for a few minutes before stopping.

"What the hell!?" Ryo and Cid exclaimed at once,

"...It appears to have malfunctioned." Kayru announced.

"You're a big technological guy! Take a look at it Ryo," Noel asked, "See if you can fix it."

"What?!" the boy demanded.

"You heard the girl Ryo!" Cid barked, glaring at the cat, "It was you 're Kayru, and your name was said first!"

"..." the bleach-blonde grumbled, before kneeling next to the cat robot and inspecting a wire which protruded from his neck, "...I see th' problem," he said, grasping the wire. "This wire snapped...I think this little guy was finished in some kinda hurry... this would have been a really simple thing to avoid..." he reconnected the wire carefully.

-----

"Waahhh-!?" the cat burst back to life, punching Ryo in the face and kicking him in gut simultaneously, before back-flipping away from him and landing easily on the ground. While everyone else stared at Ryo, Vincent and Kayru looked to the cat with interest. The boy covered his nose with one hand, putting his other hand over his stomach,

"God damn!!" he cursed, "You're a strong little son of a gun!!"

"I'm a robot built for protection!" Cait Sith announced proudly,

"You've got a hell of a way to thank the person who fixed you, you little fuck!" Cid spat.

"...Oh...well, sorry." the cat responded, "Now, I've got to be going. Vincent, Marii, please read those letters when you find the time. Goodbye." the cat quickly jogged off back towards Yassune.


End file.
